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UNITED STATES OP A3IEEICA. 



QUICK TRUTHS 
IN QUAINT TEXTS 



BY 



Robert Stuart MacArthur 



Truth dwells not in the clouds ; the bow that's there 
Doth often aim at, never kit the sphere 

George Herbert 



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PHILADELPHIA 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY 

1420 Chestnut Street 

1895 



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Copyright 1895 by the 
American Baptist Publication Society 



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THE BELOVED WIFE, WHO FOR TWENTY-FIVE YEARS 

HAS FILLED MY HEART WITH INSPIRATION, 

MY HOME WITH SUNSHINE, AND 

CALVARY CHURCH WITH 

BENEDICTION. 



PREFACE 



The sermons contained in this volume were 
preached in the Calvary Baptist Church, New 
York, on consecutive summer Sunday evenings. 
They were afterward preached in Music Hall, 
Boston, during the author's vacation ministry of 
two seasons with the Tremont Temple Church. 
Some of the truths will be found quicker, and 
some of the texts more quaint, than others ; but it 
is believed that they are all sufficiently quick and 
quaint to justify the title given to the volume. 

There is a decided gain in the direction of 
freshness and force in the selection of texts from 
the unknown portions of the Bible. It is often 
well to tread the unfamiliar byways and to visit 
the comparatively strange regions of the Bible. 
It is the only unexhausted and inexhaustible 
book in the world. Another volume with a sim- 
ilar title, the Second Series, it is expected will 
follow in due time. That these sermons may 
honor Christ, who is to "judge the quick and the 
dead," is the author's chief aim in their publi- 
cation. 

Robert Stuart MacArthur. 

Calvary Study, New York City. 



CONTENTS 



I. The Powerless Gates, 7 

II. The Consecrated Hand, 25 

III. The Brave Three Hundred, 41 

IV. The Endangered Inheritance, . . . . 57 
V. The Ennobled Ox-Goad, 73 

VI. The Mutilated Message, 89 

VII. The Poisoned Pottage, 105 

VIII. The Bed and Its Covering, 121 

IX. The Swimming Iron, 139 

X. The Fleeing Shadows 157 

XI. The Crude Cake 175 

XII. The Costly Journey, 191 

XIII. The Northern Iron and Steel, . . . 207 

XIV. The Christly Marks, 223 

XV. The Learned Tongue, 241 

XVI. The Hurrying Angel 257 

XVII. The Wooden or Iron Yokes, 273 

XVIII. The Cowards -in Battle, 291 

XIX. The Single-Hearted Soldiers, .... 305 
XX. Divine Heartburn, 321 



THE POWERLESS GATES 



The gates of hell shall not prevail against 
Matt. 16 : 18. 



QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 



THE expression " the gates of sheol," is found 
several times in the Old Testament. The 
word " hades " is the New Testament representative 
of the word sheol. Both denote the invisible 
world, the abode of the departed. Such also was 
the original sense of the English word " hell " ; it 
denoted simply the hidden or unseen place. L,ater 
it came to denote exclusively the place of tor- 
ment ; but this is its secondary, not primary, 
meaning. 

The expression " the gates of hades," may have 
several meanings. Its most natural meaning is 
that the abode of the departed shall not swallow 
up the church of Jesus Christ. All things earthly 
go through its terrible gates ; but Christ's church 
will never cease to exist on the earth. Our Lord 
fearlessly uttered these bold words. Another pos- 
sible meaning is that the gates of hades shall not 
prevent the people of God from rising again from 
the dead. Some have suggested that the expres- 
sion means that the gate would be opened to per- 
mit monsters to issue from the dread realm of the 
departed ; but this meaning is scarcely worthy of 

9 



IO QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

consideration. Still another meaning is that gates 
stand as the symbol of power in connection with 
fortified cities ; in the gates judges often sat, and 
kings decreed justice ; in the gates garrisons 
assembled. The expression " the Sublime Porte," 
and even the European use of the word " Court," 
are connected with this idea of gates. 

In the passage under consideration we are 
apparently limited to one of two meanings, either 
that the church shall not be swallowed up by the 
gates of hades, or that it shall not be overcome by 
their power. It is true that the expression does 
not so much suggest an aggressive power as a 
resisting and restraining force. But whichever 
interpretation we may adopt, the teaching is that 
the gates of hades, neither by their receptive nor 
destructive, nor yet by their retaining power, shall 
be able to overcome the church of Jesus Christ. 
This is the great and glorious truth here taught. 
To illustrate this truth is the purpose of this dis- 
course. 

The church of Christ is to expect criticism. 
She must not shrink from it ; indeed, she cannot 
help challenging it. She is a city set on a hill. 
She does not fear criticism ; she fears nothing but 
error and sin. Truth seeks the light, comes to the 
light, rejoices in the light. Error loves darkness, 
grows in darkness, and reluctantly comes into the 
light, which at once reveals and rebukes its 
deformity. A true Christianity knows that cor- 
rect knowledge, and not ignorance, is the mother 



THE POWERLESS GATES II 

of genuine devotion. A true Christianity wel- 
comes truth from whatever quarter it comes, and 
by whatsoever messenger it is brought. A true 
Christianity cares more for truth than for the 
opinions of the greatest men. She says evermore, 
as Jesus said to those who asked, ' ' Master, where 
dwellest thou?" and as Philip said to Nathanael, 
who thought no good thing could come out of 
Nazareth, " Come and see." She submits all her 
premises, processes, and conclusions to the full 
sunlight of the most critical examination. She 
has absolutely nothing to conceal. 

In the encaustic tiling at the entrance to one of 
his homes, L,ord Tennyson, we are told, had the 
words, " Truth against the world." A true Chris- 
tianity will write these words at the head of every 
sermon, on the first page of every book, and on 
the heart of every disciple. In this spirit the 
church ought to go forth to meet her critics. 
Criticism is the act or art of judging; the judg- 
ment is not necessarily unfavorable. But even 
when unfavorable the church, as the child and 
champion of truth, will go forward fearlessly and 
even joyfully to meet it. 

i. Consider, in the first place, the church and 
her early heathen critics. I do not call them 
atheistic critics. It is doubtful whether such a 
phenomenon as an intellectual atheist ever ex- 
isted ; but practical atheists are, and always have 
been, very common. There are men who live as 
if there was no God. Could it be authoritatively 



12 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

announced to-morrow that God is dead, they 
would make no change in their systems of thought 
or in their methods of life. To them there is no 
God. Such persons were known to and charac- 
terized long ago by the psalmist when he said, 
k 'The fool hath said in his heart, No God." It 
was a fool who uttered the words, and even he 
said them in his heart rather than in his head ; 
for the head of even a fool knew better. Atheism, 
of whatever kind, is a freezing void, an arctic 
breath, a lifeless life. It is an atmosphere in 
which no wing can loftily soar, no heart can truly 
beat, and no soul fully rejoice. Atheism can trans- 
form a rare day in June into a raw day in January. 
Atheistic, or more strictly, polytheistic, critics of 
Christ and the church appeared early in the his- 
tory of Christianity. They fiercely attacked the 
church ; they created great consternation. Xo 
doubt many pious souls thought the ark of God 
was in danger ; and yet most of these critics 
would now be unknown were it not that Christian 
writers have perpetuated their names in the books 
written to oppose their sophistical arguments. 

L/ucian first comes before us. He was born at 
Samosata on the Euphrates, about the year 120, 
and he died about the end of the second century. 
He was placed with his maternal uncle, who was 
a sculptor, that he might learn statuary. Later 
we find him practising law at the bar in Syria and 
Greece ; then as a teacher of rhetoric in Gaul, 
where he gained pupils and fame ; then he ap- 



THE POWERLESS GATES 1 3 

pears in Athens as the boon companion of the 
gay, wealthy, and impious circles. There he wrote 
much, his writings consisting mostly of attacks 
on philosophy and religion. Toward the latter 
part of his life he held a lucrative office in Egypt, 
bestowed upon him by the Emperor Commodus. 
He has been called the " Voltaire of Grecian 
literature." He wrote in the form of dialogue 
and in pure and elegant Greek. His keen wit did 
good by opposing the quackery of heathen priests 
and the shallowness of philosophical charlatans ; 
but he attacked Christianity in common with the 
false systems of heathenism. He spoke of Jesus 
Christ as a "crucified sophist," and not as an 
impostor, as did Celsus. Christianity he treated 
with a compassionate smile and not with a bitter 
sneer. He was marked by a general unbelief ; he 
was an Epicurean, a worldling, and a fine example, 
as has been said, of the " nil-admirari school." 

Next comes Celsus. His history is involved in 
obscurity, but he was born probably early in the 
second century. His vulgar jibes and ribald 
criticisms remind us of Thomas Paine of a much 
later day. He is the reputed author of the work 
entitled, " A True Discourse," which was written 
against Judaism and Christianity. We would 
know almost nothing of his writings were it not 
for Origen, who, though he knew little of Celsus 
himself, wrote vigorously against his methods and 
conclusions. In so doing he quoted many parts 
of his opponent's arguments, and thus has sent 

B 



14 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

them down to succeeding generations. It is 
almost certain that Celsus was a Platonist, and 
quite certain that he was a man of much philo- 
sophical learning, and of equal critical ability. 
He discovered and declared many of the objec- 
tions to Christianity which its ablest opponents 
mention and emphasize to-day. In several im- 
portant matters he anticipated the theories of Mr. 
Darwin. Strictly speaking, he was not an atheist ; 
he believed in a supreme God. He believed in 
original uncreated matter as the source of all 
evil ; but he denied a supernatural will and final 
aims or causes. These principles, if they had 
triumphed, would have been fatal to Christianity. 

Origen, more to please friends than to satisfy 
himself, replied to Celsus in the book entitled, 
" Contra Celsum" and he has thus preserved his 
opponent's name. Only as men link their names 
with the deathless name of Jesus Christ, do their 
own names become immortal. The names of the 
three men who were cast into the fiery furnace 
abide ; the names of the men who cast them in 
are unknown ; they were never recorded. The 
righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance, 
but the memory of the wicked shall perish. 

Then came the brilliant Porphyry, whose origi- 
nal name was Malchus, the Greek form of the 
Syro-Phcenician word melek, or king. The word 
Porphyry is an allusion to the color of which 
regal robes generally consisted. He was born at 
Tyre about the year 233. He was truly a cele- 



THE POWERLESS GATES 1 5 

brated heathen philosopher ; an able expounder 
of Neo-Platonism, and a bitter opponent of Chris- 
tianity. He was without doubt one of the most 
brilliant and sagacious, one of the most deter- 
mined and persistent, critics Christianity has ever 
had during all the centuries of its existence. He 
stands vastly higher in character and ability 
than either L,ucian or Celsus. They were com- 
paratively rude ; he was refined and personally 
noble. They were coarse jesters ; he was a phi- 
losophical thinker. They attempted to check 
the progress of Christianity ; he determined ut- 
terly to destroy Christianity. They gave Chris- 
tianity a sneer or a syllogism ; he sought to 
give Christianity its death blow. He was schol- 
arly and able at every point ; he was a peerless 
heathen polemic. Perhaps it is not too much to 
say that Christianity never had a more relentless 
or capable foe. He moved boldly into the arena ; 
he was resolved to dethrone Jesus Christ. He 
made a tremendous onset against the supernatural 
in Christianity, endeavoring to disprove the 
records in which the gospel is taught ; this method 
of opposition he devised. L,ucian and Celsus did 
not attack the gospel records. He anticipated, 
perhaps he suggested, methods which are common 
in our day. About the year 270 in Sicily, having 
gone there after a fit of deep melancholy, during 
which he attempted to take his own life, he wrote 
fifteen books against Christianity. He might as 
well have attempted to climb to the sky and blow 



1 6 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

out the sun. He simply succeeded in making his 
name hated by Christians far and near. Thirty 
defenders leaped into the arena to do battle for 
Christ and his truth. Jesus Christ, not Porphyry, 
is King. He wears the royal purple and the 
crown of glory, and bears the palm of victory. 

We now come to one of the most interesting 
and accomplished of the earlier writers against 
the church, Julian the Apostate. His full name 
was Flavius Claudius Julianus. He was born in 
Constantinople, in the year 331. He was the son 
of Julius Constantius, and the nephew of Con- 
stantine the Great, the first Christian emperor on 
the throne of the Caesars. He too made a vigor- 
ous but ineffectual attempt to destroy Christianity, 
and to establish the Grseco-Roman heathenism in 
power and splendor. It has been said that the 
Arian pseudo-Christianity of Constantius, his 
cousin, produced the anti-Christianity of Julian. 
He was the last great champion of a dying poly- 
theism. It ought to be remembered also that the 
heathenism with which he was in love was ideal- 
ized by philosophy and purified by Christianity. 
The culture of that old Hellenic world had for 
him an irresistible charm ; and in giving his love 
to its culture he gave also his loyalty to its relig- 
ion. Christianity was to him almost synonymous 
with family cruelty. We can all somewhat sym- 
pathize with the mitigating circumstances in his 
case of which Neander speaks. Brilliant and able, 
though he was, he was ready to believe the most 



THE POWERLESS GATES 1 7 

absurd legends of the gods. He apostatized as 
early as 351, but for purposes of political ambition 
he concealed for years his real sentiments. In 361 
he became emperor. He forbade the Christians 
to teach, or be taught rhetoric, so that their igno- 
rance might weaken their power ; he even forbade 
the use of the name Christian. When his soldiers 
came to receive gifts they were obliged to throw 
a handful of incense on the pagan altar. Three 
times he assisted the Jews in their foolish attempts 
to rebuild Jerusalem, in order to falsify the pre- 
dictions of Christ. He, however, showed great 
ability as a soldier, as he had already showed apti- 
tude as a scholar. But all his efforts to destroy 
Christianity were in vain ; paganism was dying ; 
in Christianity alone all the hopes of humanity 
were centered. Finally, he found himself, after 
many brave exploits, in a waterless and desolate 
country at the hottest season of the year, sur- 
rounded by the whole Persian army ; an arrow 
sped through the air, and in a moment more he 
lay on the ground mortally wounded, June 26, 
363. A later tradition says, that taking up a 
handful of sand saturated with his own blood, he 
cast it into the air, exclaiming : " O Galilean, 
thou hast conquered ! " Thank God, the Galilean 
will conquer every foe ! 

2. Attention must be directed, in the second 
place, to some of the scientific critics. To a true 
science no Christian teacher can object ; an estab- 
lished truth of science is as much a truth, in its 



1 8 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

place and for its purpose, as any statement of rev- 
elation. All true discoveries of science are revela- 
tions of the thoughts of God. Every truth of 
mathematics is to be honored as fully in its place 
as a truth of revelation. This thought gives 
honor and glory to the study of sines and co-sines, 
of angles and triangles. Many Christians have 
made a most unfortunate opposition to scientific 
discoveries ; all such discoveries are to be honored 
as revelations of the eternal mind. It is only to a 
science falsely so called that we object ; truth is 
one, and the revelation of God in science cannot 
contradict the revelation of God in Scripture. 
Genesis and geology, rightly interpreted, must 
teach the same great principles. There may be 
contradictions between our interpretations of 
God's book of nature and our interpretations of 
his book of revelation ; but the contradictions are 
in our interpretations and not in the divine revela- 
tions. There are scientific critics who are op- 
posed to Christ and his cause, to the church and 
to Christianity. But, for the most part, they are 
men who have not profoundly studied either the 
history or the principles of our holy religion ; they 
have been occupied largely, if not exclusively, with 
their own scientific investigations. Darwin is a 
melancholy example of men of this class. At one 
time he was broad in his investigations and varied 
in his attainments ; but he devoted himself so ex- 
clusively to his specialties that he became narrow 
and painfully bigoted. He himself tells us that a 



THE POWERLESS &ATES 19 

page of Shakespeare u nauseated " him, and that 
music gave him exquisite pain rather than pleas- 
ure. To use a word which has become common 
in certain scientific treatises, many of his noblest 
faculties became atrophied. There was much in 
Darwin to admire; he was a man of marvelous 
industry, of great honesty, and of singular devo- 
tion to his studies. But he developed his nature 
unsymmetrically ; and he became narrow, bitter, 
and bigoted. 

This remark applies in part to Spencer, and 
Huxley, and to others of their class. On the 
other hand, there are scientists who are as famous 
for their devotion to Christ and their loyalty to the 
Bible as they are, or were, conspicuous for scientific 
learning, and as they are honored by their brother 
scientists throughout the world. The celebrated 
Agassiz belongs to this class. He was the son of 
a Protestant minister, and he studied medical and 
other science at Zurich, Heidelberg, and Munich. 
His first work was a Latin description of the 
fishes which Martius and Spix brought from Bra- 
zil ; while visiting in Paris he formed an intimate 
friendship with Cuvier and Humboldt. In 1848 he 
accepted a call to the chair of geology at Harvard, 
and he became widely known for his rejection of the 
Darwinian theory. With the exception of Hugh 
Miller, no one did more to help science in our day 
than did Agassiz ; perhaps no other introduced 
and trained so many young and enthusiastic nat- 
uralists. Whipple was right when he said of 



20 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Agassiz : "He was not only a scientific thinker, 
but a scientific force." Similar honor is due to 
Guyot, who honored his native country, Switzer- 
land, and his adopted country, America, alike by 
his great learning and his noble character. He 
gave honor to Princeton College, and to the world 
of learning on both sides of the Atlantic. Pro- 
fessor Gray was to Harvard College what Guyot 
was to Princeton and more ; he also gave honor 
to America, and to science throughout the world. 
His name reflects credit upon Christianity as 
Christianity illumined and ennobled his life. The 
illustrious Dana was to Yale College what Gray 
was to Harvard. His name was a synonym for 
scholarly attainments and for Christian faith. 
Perhaps the celebrated Dawson is, in many re- 
spects, more illustrious than any scientist already 
named. Recently he was knighted as an expres- 
sion of royal appreciation. He gives honor to 
Canada, to America, to Britain, and to the world. 
These men are remarkable witnesses for Christ and 
Christianity ; and they are as eminent in science 
as they were loyal in faith. Jesus Christ is King ; 
his throne is in the center of the great realm of 
truth ; the whole earth is his footstool ; it is the 
incarnation of his thoughts. All chemical forces 
are revelations of the mind of God. The flowers 
are God's beautiful thoughts ; the mountains his 
majestic thoughts ; the stars his brilliant thoughts. 
The best student of nature, other things beine 
equal, is he who is most loyal to Jesus Christ, as 



THE POWERLESS GATES 21 

the God of creation and as the King of truth. 
No one can be truly loyal to the teachings of 
nature, as revealed by science, if he is disloyal 
to the world's Creator and Preserver. 

3. The literary critics, in the third place, also 
deserve consideration. The two classes sometimes 
intermingle ; but still there is a distinction to be 
made. There are men who are supposed to be 
lights in the literary world who are against Christ 
and Christianity. But, for the most part, they are 
lights of but little brilliancy ; they are, compared 
to the suns of literature, but as tallow dips or gas 
lamps to the great electric lights. Who are the great 
lights of literature? Glance over the centuries; 
pronounce the names of Homer, Euripides, Socra- 
tes, Plato, Virgil, and a dozen more. You say that 
these men are heathen ; you are quite right. But 
they were religious according to their enlighten- 
ment ; they caught inspiration from their religion ; 
indeed, this religious element in them gave them 
power ; it made their writings immortal. Rob their 
works of this religious element and you rob them 
of the characteristics which have given them 
enduring fame. Pronounce the names of the great 
authors in English literature ; such names as 
Chaucer, Spenser, Milton, Shakespeare, all the 
Puritan Divines, and such men as Addison, Car- 
lyle, Ruskin, Browning, Tennyson, and others. 
Differing much among themselves in religious 
faith, still these men were inspired by religious 
hope and constrained by divine love. George 



22 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Eliot never reached her highest possibilities ; 
agnosticism limited her attainments ; this world 
bounded her horizon. Her influence would have 
been wider and her fame more enduring had she 
swept within the area of her vision the other 
world as well. Tennyson and Browning, each 
on his own lofty peak in Parnassus, looked 
across the valley of the Muses to that other with 
admiration and affection. They were apostles of 
purity and of power ; they were disciples of truth 
and of Christ. 

It is cause for profoundest congratulation that the 
sweetest voices on our side of the Atlantic during 
the closing years of this century, sang to the praise 
and glory of Jesus Christ, Son of Man and Son of 
God. Pronounce the names of some of our great 
American authors; such as Bryant. Cooper, Emer- 
son, Holmes, Eowell, Longfellow, Motley, Whit- 
tier, and a dozen more. These men differed among 
themselves touching many matters of faith ; but 
they lived and wrote under the inspiration of Jesus 
Christ. Pronounce if you can the names of a 
dozen or so infidels on either side of the Atlantic, 
who can be for a single moment compared to these 
writers for intellectual attainment, not to speak 
of their moral character. Christianity gave us the 
greatest of poets, John Milton ; the greatest of 
lawyers, Blackstone ; and the greatest of politi- 
cians, Gladstone. Christianity develops intellec- 
tual power and immortalizes native genius. The 
men of greatest brain, of vastest learning, and of 



THE POWERLESS GATES 23 

most brilliant genius, are found bowing low at trie 
feet of the Christ. The giants have had their day 
against Christianity and have utterly failed. Do 
you think that the pygmies are to do that in which 
the giants have failed ? Do you think that a few 
poets and novelists are to overthrow the kingdom 
of God? Do you think a woman's novel, which 
has for its hero a man who never took a regular 
course in theology, a man more ignorant of the 
history of theological questions — according to the 
author's showing — then a middle man of average 
attainments in an average theological seminary ; a 
man who excites our pity and justifies our con- 
tempt ; a man who topples over when confronted 
with the questions which were answered at least 
one thousand five hundred years before he was 
born ; do you think this novel is to overthrow the 
church of the living God ? Shades of I^ucian, of 
Celsus, of Porphyry, and of Julian, is this the fa^e 
that befalls you ? Climb to yonder moon and draw 
a curtain over her fair face ; climb to yonder sun 
and blow out its glowing flame with your feeble 
breath — these things you may do sooner than put 
out the light of Jesus Christ, the Son of Right- 
eousness, or darken the glory of the church, which 
is " fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible 
as an army with banners." Let us stand with 
Jesus Christ ; let us lean on the Rock of Ages ; 
let us glory in the Bible. Pantheism, atheism, 
every ungodly ism, shall go down. But the word 
of God, and the Christ of God, and the church of 



24 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 



God shall stand forever. The gates of sheol shall 
never prevail against the chnrch of the living 
Christ. Christ vanquished death and the grave. 
He led captivity captive in his triumphant train. 
Hail to the Vanquisher of death, the Ransomer 
from hell, the Victor over Satan. 



II 

THE CONSECRATED HAND 



'« . . . What is that in thine hand? . 
Exodus 4 : 2. 



II 

MOSES hesitated to become the messenger of 
the Iyord to Pharaoh. He mentioned one 
difficulty after another which he thought would 
excuse him from entering on his allotted task. 
His third plea was the incredulity of the people. 
It is true that God had not made a manifestation 
of himself to Israel for more than two hundred 
years before the call came to Moses. The force 
of the objection which Moses made the Lord 
seemed to recognize ; but he removed the objec- 
tion by supplying Moses with authoritative cre- 
dentials. He wrought supernatural wonders in 
the sight of Moses for the confirmation of his own 
faith ; he also commanded that a third wonder 
should be performed in Egypt, to assure the people 
and to convince Pharaoh that Moses was the ap- 
pointed messenger of Jehovah. As the rod, which 
was the symbol of the shepherd's position, was 
changed into a serpent, so the position and work 
of Moses was to be changed. The serpent was 
also the tempter in the garden of Eden, and so 
became the representative of evil. When Moses 
seized the serpent and it became again a rod in 
his hand, he was taught that what was formidable 
to weak faith might become an element of power 
when the act of obedience to God was performed. 

27 



23 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

What was originally the rod simply of the shep- 
herd now became the rod of God. This rod in 
the hand of Moses accomplished mighty things 
for God and for Israel. It was afterward associ- 
ated with the name of Moses as was the spear 
with Joshua and the harp with David. When 
our weakness is supplemented by God's almighti- 
ness, only he can estimate the possibilities which 
we may accomplish. 

Our inherent or acquired ability is a blessing if 
used in harmony with God's will ; but it becomes 
a curse when used in opposition to God. The 
rod of Moses finally became a symbol of his dis- 
obedience to God, and so it became indirectly a 
curse and not a blessing. Moses and Aaron dis- 
pleased God at the very end of the long pilgrimage. 
Once more the people upbraided Moses because 
there was no water. He and Aaron became fear- 
ful lest the new generation, murmuring like their 
fathers about water, should be for the second time 
turned back into the wilderness. Moses did not 
implicitly rely upon God's word, but injected into 
the exciting scene a display of his own power. 
His purpose probably was to make a deeper im- 
pression on the people ; but his act was unwise. 
Instead of simply speaking to the rock he struck 
it with his staff. Israel obtained water, but Moses 
and Aaron were forbidden the honor of entering 
the land of promise. It is evermore true that pos- 
sible good lies near to possible evil. Opportuni- 
ties rightly employed become blessings greatly 



THE CONSECRATED HAND 29 

multiplied; but opportunities neglected or mis- 
used become disadvantages greatly multiplied and 
increased. 

What is in thine hand, O Joshua ? A spear to 
be held aloft in obedience to the command of the 
Lord. This spear ever after is associated in our 
thought with the name and work of the noble son 
of Nun. When the second attack was made upon 
Ai the Lord commanded Joshua to "stretch out 
the spear that is in thine hand toward Ai." Joshua 
was obedient to the Divine command ; he held the 
spear extended as the signal agreed upon with the 
men who were in ambush. The extended spear 
notified them of the precise moment when they 
were to issue forth from their retreat, and to rush 
into the city. It is quite possible also that the 
elevation of the spear was symbolic of the Divine 
presence, like the lifting up of the hands of Moses 
in the battle with Amalek. Later in the narra- 
tive the extended spear of Joshua was an indica- 
tion that the work of destroying the enemies of 
Israel was to continue. It is still true that when 
we are obedient to God in the use of the sword of 
the Spirit, God's presence is granted us for the 
destruction of our spiritual foes. When we fail to 
employ the divine weapon, we cannot expect to 
claim the divine promise that God will be with us 
to give us the victory over his and our foes. Happy 
are we when we become the obedient servants of 
God in the use of the spiritual weapons which he 
has graciously furnished for our spiritual conflicts. 



30 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

What is in thine hand, Shamgar ? An ox-goad. 
A rude, clumsy weapon is this with which to bless 
Israel and to honor God. But use it for God 
and you shall not use it in vain. Six hundred 
Philistines shall fall before thy power, and Israel 
shall be delivered by thy bravery and heroism. 

What is in the hand of Gideon and his brave 
three hundred? Lamps, pitchers, and trumpets. 
These are strange weapons with which to attempt 
the defeat of the countless Midianites who lie in 
the valley below. But God can take feeble 
instruments and make them mighty for the 
accomplishment of his divine purpose. Wonder- 
ful were the encouragements which God gave to 
Gideon in the narration of the dream of the bar- 
ley cake at this critical moment in the history of 
that remarkable night. There in the valley lay 
the hosts of Midian silently sleeping ; there are 
their camels as the sand by the seaside for multi- 
tude. The barley cake rolled through the host 
until it reached a tent and overturned it so that it 
lay prone on the ground. It would seem that 
many tents were smitten by the rolling cake, as 
if it were a ball among nine pins, prostrating 
everything in its course. Gideon did not feel 
humiliated in hearing himself called but a barley 
cake, although this was the most insignificant of 
cakes, so long as he could see that cake rolling 
among the tents and the tents falling flat upon the 
ground as witness to its power. All is silent 
among the hosts of Midian as the hour approaches 



THE CONSECRATED HAND 31 

the noon of night. We see the brave three hun- 
dred divided into three companies, and in every 
man's hand a trumpet, a pitcher, and a lamp 
within the pitcher. We then see Gideon going 
to the outside of the camp and asking all to fol- 
low his example. Then came the blast of the 
trumpets, the crash of the pitchers, the flashing 
of the lights, and the cry of the hosts of Israel, 
"the sword of the L,ord and of Gideon." The 
intermingled sound of the trumpets and the 
reverberation of the shouts, with the sudden glare 
of the three hundred blazing torches, astounded 
the Midianites, awakening to their doom. These 
Midianites, no doubt, supposed that there were 
as many companies as there were trumpets, 
lamps, and pitchers. Every man's sword was 
turned against his fellow as, with a harsh cry, pecu- 
liar to their race, they rushed about unable to 
distinguish friend from foe. Terrible was the 
slaughter; glorious was the victory. We need 
never hesitate to undertake any task however 
difficult if we are following the Divine leadership. 
We never need doubt of success when God is on! 
our side ; and we must ever give God the glory, 
when victory has been achieved. Brave and 
noble Gideon ! thou hast written thy name high } 
on the scroll of fame among patriotic victors and ! 
faithful heroes. 

What is in thine hand, David ? A harp. We 
cannot look upon this youthful warrior without 
enthusiasm mingled with affection. The ruddy 



32 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

youth comes before us in the heartiness of his 
faith, and the intrepidity of his courage. We are 
to hear him singing with his harp and to see him 
slaying with his sling. Saul was the victim of 
mental and moral disorder. He was perhaps the 
guilty victim of some form of cerebral disease. 
We are told that " an evil spirit from the Lord 
was upon him " ; but we know that this is simply 
the Old Testament way of telling us that Saul's 
misconduct brought upon him a Divine retribu- 
tion. He seems naturally to have been of a mor- 
bid disposition, and this tendency was aggravated 
by his obstinacy and selfishness. Although re- 
buked by the prophet Samuel, he does not seem 
to have sought the Divine forgiveness. Soon his 
cruel suspicions and morbid jealousies induced a 
homicidal mania. A better spirit occasionally 
possessed this strange man ; but soon it left him, 
and he again fell into his passionate melancholia. 
It occurred to the attendants of King Saul to try 
the soothing charms of music as an opiate to as- 
suage the anguish of his troubled mind. It was 
believed that music would be, 

The soft, insinuating balsam, that 

Can through the body reach the sickly soul. 

David is soon brought with his harp to the court. 
Saul is sensitive to the soft strains of David's 
music, as he was to the more stirring minstrelsy of 
the sons of the prophets. The sounds of David's 
lyre and voice, perhaps chanting some lofty theme, 



THE CONSECRATED HAND 33 

controlled the troubled spirit of the unhappy and 
wicked monarch. 

It is almost impossible to overestimate the value 
of music in every relation in life. It stirs the sol- 
dier to heroic deeds in battle, and to untiring- cour- 
age on the march. It conduces powerfully to relig- 
ious feeling, whether it be the product of the great 
organ or of the human voice. It is one of the sweet- 
est charms in social life, and in its wild revelries it 
may become an irresistible agency of Satan to deeds 
repugnant to noble men and hateful to God. We 
know that Elisha sought the ministry of a minstrel 
that his mind might properly receive the prophetic 
impulse ; and we know that music was an inspiring 
power to Martin L,uther. His own words are, 
" Next to theology, I give the first place and 
the greatest honor to music." Milton also was 
charmed with the gracious influence of music 
alike in his times of sadness and poetic fervor. 

Before the clouded face of Saul, David sat with 
his harp. Over its strings his hands swept, calling 
forth strains inspired alike by human genius and 
divine ecstasy. Fable has told us of the power of 
Orpheus, who by touching his lyre moved trees and 
rocks and the beasts of the forest. Alas ! David's 
harp could not permanently subdue the power of 
evil in the soul of Saul. It checked for a time 
his evil tendencies ; but the blackness of his envy 
and the foulness of his jealousy broke forth in 
bitterness of spirit and deadliness of purpose 
against the sweet singer himself. Marvelous is 



34 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

the power of good or evil which music exercises. 
Glorious are the possibilities in possession of the 
great musicians of the world. Beautiful is the 
expression of the psalmist when he says, " as well 
the singers as the players on instruments shall be 
there." Heaven is harmony ; heaven is song. 
Almost divine is the gift of playing the organ, the 
harp, the violin, and the many other instruments 
of music, and so giving forth melodious sound 
and song. More than angelic is the gift of open- 
ing the lips and pouring forth a flood of melody 
which makes all the air tremulous with heavenly 
music. Oh, men and women, gifted with this 
mysterious, matchless, heavenly power, use it for 
purity, for truth, and for God. 

What is in thine hand, David ? A sling. Only 
a sling ; but a sling in the trained hand of David 
was really a mighty weapon. It was mightier far at 
a distance than the sword of Goliath. Fresh from 
home came David ; preparation for battle is going 
on in the camp. David is weary of the cowardice 
of the men of Israel, who dared not resent the 
impious challenge of the gigantic Philistine. Shall 
this man continue to defy " the armies of the liv- 
ing God " ? Patriotic fire burns in the soul of the 
youth. He could not bear the thought that any 
one should defy the living God. He will accept 
the challenge of the impious giant. He will go 
out in the confidence of God to defend his name, 
and to honor the truth. He cannot go in the 
armor of Saul ; so clothed he would be powerless. 



THE CONSECRATED HAND 35 

Saul is cowardly in refusing to fight the foe and 
in accepting the services of an inexperienced 
youth. See the brave David preparing for the 
conflict ! The Philistine scorns and curses him, 
declaring that he will soon give his flesh to bird 
and beast. Hear David replying that he goes in 
the name of God and that the battle is the L,ord's. 
See him securing the pebbles from the brook as 
he hastens to the conflict ! Behold him adjusting 
the stone and swinging his sling ! With terrific 
force the stone whizzes through the air and sinks 
into the head of the boastful Philistine. He falls 
prostrate upon the earth. Brave David ! Thy 
courage was equalled by thy faith, and thy victory 
is in harmony with thy faith and courage. Ever- 
more our motto must be, ' c In the name of the 
Lord. " That was David's motto when feeding the 
sheep, when slaying the lion, when defying the 
Philistine, and when composing his immortal 
psalms. When we go out in the name that is 
above every name, victory will assuredly be ours. 
What is in the hand of Peter and his compan- 
ions ? A casting-net. They are on the sea of 
Galilee. By this sea Jesus walked for the purpose 
of preaching the kingdom of God and calling 
men to be his disciples and ministers. Here was 
Peter, with his brother Andrew, and their partners, 
James and John. They were just commencing the 
labor of the day or the night. Immediately is 
heard the call of Jesus, " Come hither." Already 
they had recognized him as the Messiah, but had 



36 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

still followed their occupation as fishermen. They 
are now ready to arise and follow Jesus. Some of 
them had already been called to follow him as 
disciples ; but now they are called to be his con- 
stant attendants. Beautiful is the statement that 
' ' they straightway left their nets and followed 
him." Beautiful also is Christ's remark that he 
would make them u fishers of men." They were 
to be preachers of the gospel ; they were to be 
winners of souls to Christ. The net in the hand 
of Peter and his companions is at once trans- 
figured and glorified until it becomes the divine 
method for winning souls, and the fish are sug- 
gestive of the men and women who are to be 
gathered into the kingdom of God. No instru- 
ment is so insignificant as to be unfitted for God's 
purpose in bringing good to men and glory to 
Jesus Christ. 

What is in thy hand, you young lad, with the 
disciples ? Five loaves and two fishes. What are 
these among so many ? Jesus well knew what he 
himself would do although he asks the question 
as to the resources for supplying the wants of 
the multitude. When we turn to the evangelist 
John we find that these resources belong to the 
lad who chanced to be present on the occasion. 
Jesus assured the disciples that the multitude need 
not depart and that they could give the people 
food to eat. Perhaps this lad was present for the 
purpose of " turning an honest penny " by selling 
supplies from his small stock. We now see our 



THE CONSECRATED HAND 



Lord preparing a table in the wilderness and 
bidding his disciples make all the people re- 
cline on the green grass. The evangelist Mark 
graphically tells us that they sat down in com- 
panies with a symmetrical arrangement, like 
garden plots, illustrating Christ's practical wis- 
dom as the lover of order. What are five 
loaves and two fishes among five thousand men ? 
Listen ! Hear Jesus say, " Bring them hither to 
me." They are brought to him. The people are 
seated ; the disciples are the waiters ; the blessing 
of God is asked on the bread ; it is broken ; the 
loaves are given to the disciples and by the dis- 
ciples are given to the multitude. "And they did 
all eat and were filled ; and they took up of the 
fragments that remained, twelve baskets full." 
The five thousand men, besides women and chil- 
dren, were all satisfied with this marvelous repast. 
When we take our small stores of grace, of intel- 
lect, and of effort of whatever kind, to the Lord 
Jesus, he makes them mighty for the feeding of 
hungry souls. We have only to bring our empti- 
ness to his fullness ; our weakness to his strength ; 
our humanness to his divineness. We are told 
even that the loaves were barley loaves. Barley 
loaves were then the food for the most part, not of 
men but of beasts. It was a barley cake that rolled 
into the camp of the Midianites. God can take the 
" things which are not to bring to naught things 
that are" ; God can make the foolish things of the 
world confound the things which are mighty. 



38 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

What is in thine hand, Mary ? An alabaster 
box of very precious ointment. Pour it on the 
head of Christ. Judas may misinterpret thy 
act, but Jesus will pronounce thy eulogy. This 
anointing was an act performed with reference to 
Christ's death. Mary seems to have had a knowl- 
edge of his approaching death which his disciples 
did not possess. Never were greater honors be- 
stowed upon a mortal than Jesus conferred upon 
Mary. He declared that her deed should be in 
everlasting remembrance ; and that it should be 
everywhere mentioned. Matthew and Mark do 
not give the name of the woman thus honored ; 
but while John omits the prophecy he records the 
name, and reveals the fact that this Mary was 
the sister of Martha. The odor of that precious 
ointment has filled the world ; the heart of Jesus 
was tender, sensitive, and appreciative. Blessed 
are they whose names are associated with the 
name that is above every name ! 

What is in thine hand, Dorcas ? Only a needle. 
Is a woman with a needle to be made immortal ? 
God sees that woman's heart ; God sees the glis- 
tening of that needle as it passes in and out of the 
garment. That needle is used for the Lord's poor. 
The needle of Dorcas wrought for her an inscrip- 
tion more durable than brass or marble. Her 
eulogy will be read when the victories of Roman 
arms and the glories of Grecian arts are forgotten. 
Her needle served God as truly as does the pen of 
the recordine an eel. 



THE CONSECRATED HAND 39 

What is in thine hand ? A broom. Use it for 
God. The broom of the domestic servant may be 
as truly used for God as was the sceptre of David 
or Solomon. What is in thine hand ? A trowel, 
a hammer, an axe, a chisel, a saw, or some other 
mechanical tool? Use it for God. Jesus Christ 
gave dignity to labor ; the sweat-beads of honest 
toil stood on his brow. What is in thine hand ? 
A pen. A pen is mightier than the sword. The 
pen of Shakespeare, of Longfellow, of Tennyson, 
of Whittier ! Oh, matchless instrument ! A pen 
in the hand of Harriet Beecher Stowe stabbed 
slavery to the heart. A pen in the hand of George 
Kennan to tell the story of darkest Russia is might- 
ier than the sword of the Czar of all the Russias. 
Have you a pen ? Use it for God. Perhaps it is 
a typewriter. Touch its keys ; make sweet music 
that shall echo around the globe. We are all 
familiar with George Herbert's admirable expres- 
sion of this thought : 

A servant with this clause 

Makes drudgery divine ; 
Who sweeps a room, as for Thy laws, 

Makes that and the action fine. 

We need grit and grace to use the old sword, 
the old hammer, the old fire, the old and always 
new gospel. Oh ! can you not find some poor 
soul to-day who does not know Jesus ? Can you 
not tell some wanderer about the Christ ? What 
is in thine hand? Wealth. Consecrate it now to 



40 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

God. What is in thy mouth ? A tongue of elo- 
quence. Use it for God. The tongue is the 
mightiest instrument that God ever made. What 
is in thine hand? A kindly grasp? Give that 
hand to some sad soul. Let us consecrate every- 
thing to him ! The office, the plow, the pen, 
the needle, the tongue, the hands, the feet, and the 
heart for Jesus. When the pierced hand of Jesus 
Christ is laid on the printing press, on wealth, on 
learning, on beauty, on culture, on every gift and 
grace in every relation in life, then the splendor 
of the millennial dawn will color the eastern sky 
with its crimson and gold. 



Ill 

THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 



• ' And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred 
men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midian- 
ites into thine hand : and let all the other people go every 
7iian unto his place. ' ' Judges 7 : 7. 






Ill 

BRAVE, dashing, and victorious were the sol- 
diers of the heroic Gideon. They are 
worthy of immortality ; and they have been im- 
mortalized on the page of sacred story. They 
lose nothing of their grandeur and glory even 
when compared with the "noble six hundred" 
who rode "into the jaws of Death, into the mouth 
of Hell," and whose praise is chanted in immortal 
verse by the laureate Tennyson. In giving praise 
to Gideon and " glory to the Lord of Hosts, from 
whom all glories are," we desire to detract nothing 
from the illustrous three hundred, whose heroic 
and patriotic piety give them a unique place not 
only in the Bible, but in the history of brave men 
of every century and every clime. 

In order rightly to understand the events re- 
corded in connection with the bravery and victory 
of Gideon, we must have clearly in our minds the 
condition of the country at the time. Earlier in 
this history we have the account of the defeat of 
Sisera. That defeat marked the failure of the 
last attempt by the old inhabitants to overthrow 
the people of God. Now, however, enemies from 
new quarters afflict the children of Israel. They 
are the Midianites and the Amalekites ; the Mid- 
ianites had gradually spread northward from the 

43 



44 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TRXTS 

peninsula of Sinai, and the Amalekites were the 
old enemies of Israel whom they had fought at 
Rephidim. These two peoples have now joined 
their interests with some other tribes, known un- 
der the general title of u the children of the East," 
in order to overthrow Israel. They were accus- 
tomed to make incursions at harvest time, when 
they carried off flocks and destroyed the harvests, 
after the manner of the Bedouin Arabs of the 
present day. The Israelites were reduced to the 
sorest distress ; many of them were obliged to 
dwell in the mountains in caves and in strong- 
holds. They did not dare to reside in the open 
country, but were obliged to find protection in 
these retired places and in hidden caverns. Fre- 
quently still whole neighborhoods are exposed to 
these ravages, and as a result whole villages have 
disappeared from the face of the land. The peas- 
ants prefer, when attacks are made, to climb to a 
safe retreat in the hills rather than take the risk 
of living in the open fields. In Gideon's time 
these raids were on an especially gigantic scale. 
Cruel as is war always and everywhere, it was es- 
pecially so in the midst of the terrible sufferings 
inflicted upon the helpless Israelites. Two chiefs, 
having the title of kings, are especially brought 
to our notice, Zebah, " the man-killer," and Zal- 
munna, " the pitiless." Their names indicate the 
power they exercised and the terror they inspired. 
There were two inferior chiefs named Oreb, " the 
raven," and Zeeb, "the wolf"; these latter bore 



THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 45 

the title of " princes." These four chiefs led their 
wild followers in battle array against the defense- 
less inhabitants. The picture of their army given 
in the narrative is striking and startling. They 
are represented as appearing, like the Arab chiefs 
of modern days, arrayed in gorgeous scarlet robes, 
while on their necks and the necks of their cam- 
els there were gold chains and crescent-shaped 
ornaments. All their women were decked with 
ear and nose rings of gold, together with many 
other jewels. This is the picture given us in this 
ancient record of the dashing and heartless ene- 
mies of Israel, and of the sad condition of the 
people themselves. 

When the night is darkest, the morning is near ; 
when the knell of liberty is sounding, the deliv- 
erer is born. When the tale of bricks was doubled 
then came Moses ; when Israel was in despair and 
her enemies in triumph, then came Gideon, heroic 
deliverer and triumphant soldier of God. Our 
thought must be fixed upon him for a little as we 
study this interesting narrative. " Words are 
things," said the fiery Mirabeau in the wild 
French Assembly. This statement is true of 
Gideon's name. It means "feller," "hewer," or 
" destroyer." He was chosen of God for his noble 
mission. He was of a small family. Amid the 
poor, or at least weak, clans of western Manasseh, 
was that descended from Abiezer, a son of Gilead ; 
and among these households that of Joash held a 
prominent place. All his sons were brave and 



46 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

noble, " each like the son of a king." All except 
the youngest son, Gideon, had fallen on Mount 
Tabor in the many fights with the fierce Midian- 
ites. Unexpectedly did this great champion of 
Israel arise in the midnight hour of Israel's hope. 
Already he was known both to the Israelites and 
to their enemies as a mighty hero. The " tree- 
feller " was also a " man-feller ; " and many a Mid- 
ianite had already felt the strength of the arm of 
this " mighty man of valor." His home and fields 
were at Ophrah, and here the invaders encoun- 
tered his strong arm and brave household. He 
was modestly at work, like many other truly great 
men, when he received his call to higher duties 
and nobler endeavors. 

Gideon was threshing wheat with a flail in the 
winepress in order that he might the better con- 
ceal the grain from the tyrants. In the winepress 
he would be less exposed to the notice of the 
invaders, and the flail falling on the grain placed 
on the bare ground would make less noise than 
if it were on a boarded floor. There would be 
danger that the enemies might hear the bellowing 
of the oxen, if they had been used to thresh the 
grain. The angel of the Lord immediately said 
unto him, "Jehovah is with thee, thou mighty 
man of valor." This address seemed not only 
startling but ironical to Gideon, when he con- 
sidered the depressed state of his people. He 
therefore replied, " O my Lord, if Jehovah be 
with us why then is all this befallen us? and 



THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 47 

where be all his miracles which our fathers told 
us of, saying : Did not Jehovah bring us up 
from Egypt ? but now Jehovah hath forsaken us 
and delivered us into the hand of the Midianites." 
We can well understand how Gideon came to 
speak in a tone so despondent. The answer came : 
" Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel 
from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not 
sent thee?" Gideon still expressed his doubt; 
but he is met with this divine promise : " Surely 
I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the 
Midianites as one man." The assurance that God 
is with him is all that he needs. A miracle finally 
entirely removes his distrust, inspires his heart 
with hope, and assures him of God's presence and 
help in all his undertakings. This miracle is in 
itself deeply interesting. Gideon at once under- 
takes to present the angel with a kid and unleav- 
ened cakes. These he laid upon the rock, and 
the supernatural visitor touches the offerings with 
the tip of his staff, and straightway a fire arose 
out of the rock and consumed them ; and thus the 
meal immediately became a sacrifice. The angel 
then departed and Gideon was filled with holy 
awe because he had seen an angel of the L,ord face 
to face. The heavenly visitant gives him a word 
of benediction, and Gideon builds an altar calling 
it Jehovah-shalom. 

A new era dawns upon Gideon and the people 
of God. Striking is the language employed to 
describe Gideon's preparation for this heroic and 



ah !™cz earrrHS :x qtaitnu rzxrs 

.I '_t . a. z. cllli trtlS C aet He vaxei Varaut 

in nrht " tad — as thus cradled ;: " turn :: mrht 
the armies :: the aliens." When the Spirit :: 

G ~ t "I ~c^ "II 2.3 'HI "*, ?-, T. t T~~. r - 5 — c "II 111 ill tile'" 

srblime results. vVe are n:: n:~ surprised :: 
read that Gidetr :le~ the — ar trariret thrcuah 
his mm :a:: :i~A:ierer, and als: that measeu^ ms 



is r:~ ream :;r a rreat deliverance : '::: i-i a- : n 
feels r'ae nee -a :: a mvme t titer. :: assure him :: 
Gid's presence and dlessmr. <3-: i c.mdeseends :•: 
strenrthea his faith hy a cradle simi — :hat :■: :he 
vet rleete ana :he iry — :: the Inane presence. 
One vr inters at Gi deer's remind :ha: G: i slmuld 
give him :his ::hen : his tmduct seems tresamp- 
rutus after G:r ami river a deamte premise: but 
in passing mdmuert upon mis demand :: Gidem 
we must Lave constantly in vie— the necessities 
:e his t tsiriem 

vVe n:— see hie ratherirr cz the ciam vae hear 
the blast :: ihe trumpets, and are ready fer 
:he apprcaehirr clash :•: arms. Giaem's tareer 
is a eamcairu rather than a rattle, a carutairu 
which divides itself into three parts. Xo fewer 
than chirry-rvr; hnzusana men have ansrverea 
Gideens mil h: h:~ ever, pre claims hrrrcuah 



THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 49 

the host that all who were faint-hearted were free 
to depart, and to our astonishment, and, as we 
might well suppose, to his dismay, no fewer than 
twenty-two thousand withdrew. But even the 
ten thousand still remaining were too many. A 
strange method does Gideon employ to test the 
spirit of his soldiers. Here is a copious spring, 
named from this event, "the spring of Trem- 
bling," flowing from under a huge rock and form- 
ing a pool of pure water, and to it his soldiers are 
brought that he may once more test their wisdom 
and their self-restraint. Only those who lapped 
the water with their hands, as men do who are in 
haste, were considered worthy to be retained in 
the army, and all those who lay down and lei- 
surely drank were excluded. These two modes of 
drinking are still common in the East. Orientals 
become amazingly dextrous in drinking by the 
use of the hands ; they throw the water into the 
mouth before the hand is brought close to it, so 
that the hand brings a fresh supply before the 
preceding one has been swallowed. The original 
word for " lappeth " (yalok) is precisely the sound 
which a dog makes in drinking. 

The entire number of soldiers is now reduced 
to three hundred. Is Gideon to be pitied ? One 
might so affirm; but God had said: "By the 
three hundred men that lapped will I save you, 
and deliver the Midianites into thine hand." God 
cares for quality more than quantity. When God 
makes bare his arm, a few men become mightier 



50 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

than many thousands without his immediate 
presence and benediction. But a slight differ- 
ence marked the conduct of the rejected and the 
accepted soldiers ; but that slight difference indi- 
cated an important distinction between these two 
classes. We may expect that Gideon soon will 
achieve victories for God's Israel and for Israel's 
God. 

At this critical moment Gideon needed and 
received another encouragement from God. At 
this time the Midianites and Amalekites, and all 
the children of the Bast, lay sleeping in the val- 
ley like grasshoppers for multitude, and their 
camels, according to the Scripture narrative, were 
without number, they were as the sand by the 
seaside for multitude. How may Gideon attempt 
to overcome one hundred and twenty thousand of 
these dashing warriors with three hundred men ? 
God recognizes the necessity of interposing for 
the encouragement of his noble servant. Yonder 
in the valley beneath sleep the hosts of Midian ; 
God commands Gideon to go down unto the ho£t, 
taking his servant Phurah with him, and accom- 
panied the command by the promise that he had 
delivered Midian into Gideon's power. We now 
see Gideon and Phurah going stealthily down to 
the sleeping host. The darkness of night has 
come down alike upon the invaders and the 
invaded. Under cover of the night Gideon and 
his armor-bearer reach the outskirts of the tents ; 
deep silence reigns over the encampment. Like 



THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 51 

all Arabian armies, this army had no sentinel. 
One of the sleeping Arabs awakes ; a dream has 
startled him. He is telling that dream to one of 
his companions. How eagerly Gideon and -Phu- 
rah listen ! This dream meant much to Midian ; 
it will mean much to Israel. A thin and round 
cake of barley bread is seen rolling into the camp. 
Mysterious cake ! Marvelous wheel ! And now 
it reaches the royal tent in the center of the 
encampment, and headlong the tent falls upon the 
ground. So spake the awakened Arab ; so heard 
the anxious and delighted Gideon. The Arab 
affirms that it meant nothing else save "the sword 
of Gideon, the son of Joash." Grateful Gideon ; 
he bows himself in thankfulness to the ground, 
and then dashes off up the mountain side with a 
glad heart ; be returns to his three companies at 
their posts. Near midnight the signal is given. 
Never were stillness and darkness more suddenly 
disturbed. Three hundred pitchers crash, three 
hundred men shout until the midnight air resounds 
as if hundreds of thousands instead of three hun- 
dred soldiers were making an onset ; and three 
hundred torches flash out on the darkness of the 
night. And the stirring war-cry, ' ' For Jehovah 
and for Gideon," breaks upon the stillness of the 
midnight air. The Arabs break camp, rush 
hither and thither in the darkness and confusion, 
uttering the wild cries peculiar to their race. 
Every man drew his sword against his fellow. The 
vast multitude poured in hopeless confusion down 



52 QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

the valley toward the ford of the Jordan ; their 
aim was to cross the river at Bethabara, but Gid- 
eon would not permit them to escape. 

We now come to what was really a second bat- 
tle, for the Ephraimites were now aroused, and 
that great tribe seized the ford and cut off the 
fugitives. The two greater chiefs had crossed the 
river before the Ephraimites arrived, but Oreb and 
Zeeb, the lesser chiefs, were caught and slain. 
"Faint, yet pursuing," dashed Gideon and his 
brave three hundred after the retreating enemy. 

At Succoth and Penuel, Gideon found halting 
places. Although two battles had been gained, a 
third must be fought and a third victory won. 
Gideon now follows the course of Zebah and 
Zalmunna, the two chiefs who had been over all 
the host, with flying steps, and pursued them in 
their rapid flight. Shall he overtake them ? 
Shall the victories won be followed by another 
triumph ? On, on, far into the desert rush Gideon 
and his brave three hundred, and at distant Kar- 
kor he overtakes the flvin^ Arab host. There the 
remnant of their army has encamped in fancied 
security. Gideon immediately resolves to sur- 
prise them by a rapid detour. In his plans he is 
eminently successful, and suddenly falling upon 
them from the east, he utterly routed them, and 
by sunrise he was marching in triumph on his 
way back to the Jordan. Never was a victory 
more complete. The day of Midian, "with its 
confused noise, and its garments rolled in blood," 



THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 53 

remained ever after as the emblem of the com- 
plete destruction of the foes of Israel. Not only 
Isaiah, but the author of the eighty-third Psalm 
speaks in stirring language of this great triumph. 
He represents the enemy driven over the uplands 
of Gilead like the chaff blown from the threshing- 
floor, and like the dry weeds before the fierce 
flames on the mountain. So magnificent was 
Gideon's triumph that he rose at once to the high- 
est honors which the tribe could confer. It was 
their intention to crown him as king, but he was 
as humble as he was heroic; he was modest as 
brave. Few men could have been more fit for the 
honor of royal rank. His very appearance was 
kingly, but he earnestly refused the proffered 
crown. 

God gives us at times opportunities for doing 
great things for him. Happy are we when we 
recognize our opportunity and discharge our obli- 
gation. Again, God can work with few as with 
many ; he regards quality more than quantity. 
Unfortunately, but a small percentage of mem- 
bers in all our churches now do the work of the 
churches ; but few are ready to respond to the 
blast of the trumpet for battle against the devil 
and all forms of evil. Many soldiers are heroic 
in sham battles and on parade day ; but when war 
really comes thousands are faint-hearted, and other 
thousands are self-indulgent. Many are sulking 
in the rear, some are in their tents, while an undue 
proportion is in hospitals or in ambulances. If 



54 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

the test were applied to ch.urch.es to-day, perhaps 
as great a proportion as in the army of Gideon 
would be unfit for battle. 

Once more the trumpet sounds, summoning- us 
to the conflict. Hosts of Midianites and Amalek- 
ites, in the form of social, political, and personal 
evils are all about us. Let us sound the cry, " For 
God and native land," and rouse ourselves for duty. 
Let us, here and now, consecrate ourselves afresh 
to Christ and to his church. But let us determine 
to undertake nothing in our own strength. We 
are unable to cope with our terrible foes ; but let 
us also shrink from no duty to which we are 
clearly called of God. God will permit us to test 
him as Gideon tested him with the fleece ; and 
God will give us encouragement by confessions of 
weakness from the foe, as Gideon was encouraged 
by the dream regarding the cake of barley bread. 
Let us doubt nothing when God promises us his 
help. 

The only question which a true Christian need 
ever ask regarding any duty is, ' ' Does God so 
command?" His command is ultimate author- 
ity. His will, as expressed in his word, is the 
highest law of duty for a true believer. Creeds 
made by men can be unmade by men ; it is only 
the word of our God that shall stand forever. 
We have been governed quite too much by feeling 
rather than by the sense of duty. We never read 
that we are saved by feeling, but always by faith. 
One often wishes that the word "feeling" were 



THE BRAVE THREE HUNDRED 55 

blotted out of all our religious vocabularies. In 
all Wellington's dispatches, which filled twelve 
large volumes, we never find the word " glory," 
not even after his greatest victory ; but Welling- 
ton's word was always '-' duty, duty, duty." In 
Napoleon's dispatches we have the word "glory." 
Wellington tells us that he learned in his cate- 
chism as a boy to do his duty in whatever sphere 
the providence of God might place him. The 
Frenchman followed glory; the Briton, duty. 
The nations that are the disciples of glory shall 
pass away ; but the nations that are loyal to duty 
must abide. When God clearly commands, it is 
ours promptly to obey. Results are God's ; duties 
are ours. It is ever true that the path of duty is 
the path of safety and joy. We cannot expect 
God's blessing on our path except our path be 
God's way. The moment we fly from the path of 
duty we experience sorrow, as did David, Elijah, 
Jonah, and all others who at any time disobeyed 
the voice of God. In the word of God, commands 
and blessings are closely associated ; in the experi- 
ence of all Christians obedience and benediction 
are inseparable. No duty is difficult when God 
leads the way. If there be a lion in the path we 
have but to walk straight forward and when the 
lion is approached he will be found chained and 
his jaws locked. Had Gideon refused to obey the 
command of God, he would not have won victory 
from his foes. To-day we crown him with glory 
because in his day he yielded God unquestioning 



56 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TKXTS 

obedience. No man is fit to command his fellow- 
men but be who yields body, soul, and spirit to 
the commands of his God. The man who makes 
duty his watchword, duty his king, is the man 
who must win in the warfare of life, and is the 
man to whom God will at last give the triple 
crown of glory, of righteousness, and of life. 

Forward, O church of the living God ! I,et us 
no longer sing, " Hold the fort," but let us shout, 
" Storm the fort ! " And let us, when the victory 
is won, take no glory to ourselves, but give it all 
unto God. God must strip us of pride that he 
may use us for work. May the God of Gideon be 
our God, our portion, our all, henceforth and for- 
evermore ! Amen. 



IV 
THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 



" . . . Lest I mar i7iine own i7iheritance. . . Ruth 

4:6. 



IV 

THE story of the bridal ceremonies of Ruth 
and Boaz is as beautiful as a dream. It 
abounds in touches which make the whole world 
kin. Indeed the whole pastoral is beyond com- 
parison touching and full of human interest. 
From amid the stormy clashing and warring of 
interests that marked the period of the judges of 
Israel, it comes like a strain of music from amid 
the tumult of a mob ; like the song of a lark, float- 
ing out over the murkiness and savagery of a bat- 
tlefield. Hear it often as we may, we do not tire 
of it ; or if we do, it is only of the telling, and 
then we take it and tell it ourselves, and anew 
breathe out our thanks to its unknown author. 

An obstacle to the marriage of Boaz and the 
Moabite Ruth, according to the levirate law, ex- 
isted which might have interrupted the course of 
true love, and which might have changed their 
future, and even the inspired record in the Bible. 
There was no obstacle to the marriage in the heart 
of either Boaz or Ruth ; there was none in his cir- 
cumstances ; none in her desires. The only ob- 
stacle was technical and legal. This difficulty 
must be removed, or the marriage between the 
prosperous yeoman and the beautiful widow could 
not be solemnized. 

59 



60 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

The facts of the case at this point give us a 
suggestive glimpse of the solemn manner and pe- 
culiar ceremonies of that primitive time. We are 
carried at once to the city gates, through which 
all the town folk must pass. This gate was the 
place of gossiping, of marketing, and of marry- 
ing. It was the court-house and the town hall of 
that early day. On this particular morning Boaz 
is on hand early. Great and tender thoughts are 
in his heart, but strange fears disturb his peace, as 
many tender hopes are in the balance. He re- 
receives and returns kindly salutations as he ap- 
proaches ; his manner is peculiarly earnest and 
dignified to-day. With honored townspeople, he 
sits on the stone bench prepared for him and other 
local dignitaries. All the people feel that there 
is something unusual to come before them on this 
occasion. The judges meet. The case is formally 
opened. The story of Naomi and Ruth is told. 

It is known that Naomi has resolved to sell the 
property which belonged to her deceased husband. 
The next of kin, according to the old law, has the 
first advantage in making the purchase. This 
anonymous kinsman approaches. Boaz in a manly 
way gives him the opportunity. He seems glad 
to buy. Perhaps he thought the necessities of 
Naomi would induce her to part with the estate 
at a reduced price. This is a trying moment for 
Boaz ; his heart beats fast. Will the kinsman se- 
cure the property ? Tender hopes balance on the 
answer to that question, but Boaz must be fair ; 



THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 6l 

the offer must be fully made. It must be under- 
stood that when the property is bought from 
Naomi, Ruth goes with it. She is its inalienable, 
its inseparable appurtenante. The case is fully 
stated. Will the kinsman agree to the terms? 
Shall he claim Ruth as his own ? Oh, Boaz, still 
thy throbbing heart and listen to the kinsman's 
answer ! The beautiful Ruth, the rose of Moab, 
is not wanted by this relative. The kinsman will 
not have the property on these terms. The anon- 
ymous relative does not want Ruth as his wife. 
We cannot tell what his reasons were ; he may 
have had a wife already, and he may have feared 
that additional claimants to the inheritance would 
be multiplied ; but it is certain that he declines to 
purchase the estate on the conditions named. 
Noble Boaz, happy Boaz, Ruth shall be all thine 
own ! The people are witnesses ; they shout their 
joy ; their hearts ascend to heaven in prayer, and 
go out to the bridal pair in blessing. 

We may not admire the conduct of the kins- 
man, but we can rejoice in the happiness of Boaz ; 
and we can learn useful lessons from the kins- 
man's words as recorded in this old story : " lest I 
mar mine own inheritance." Many men mar 
noble inheritances. We have here suggested for 
us a practical subject to whose discussion we now 
give our thought. What are some of these in- 
heritances, and how may they be marred ? 

i. We may notice, in the first place, that there 
is the inheritance of physical health. The an- 



62 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

cients were right who spoke of a sound mind in a 
sound body as one of the best gifts of the gods. 
Nowhere does the word of God, rightly translated, 
speak of the body as vile ; everywhere does the 
Bible exalt the body as a noble specimen of Di- 
vine workmanship. The interpretation of the 
Scripture which makes it degrade the body is false 
to its true teaching, and is dishonoring to God, 
the Author of the Bible, the Maker of our bodies, 
and the Father of our spirits. The man who sins 
against his body sins against his God. God has writ- 
ten his will upon the body as truly as upon the pages 
of the Bible. Every natural motion of the body is 
a revelation of the will and purpose of the divine 
Creator. It was a heathen, and not a Christian 
conception which in the minds of recluses and 
fanatics, of hermits and monks, led to the lacera- 
tion of the body in the hope that thereby God 
would be honored and the soul ennobled. Ever 
since Christ was cradled in the manger at Bethle- 
hem the body has been honored, exalted, glori- 
fied. Every babe since the birth of Christ has 
been in a sense divinized. As his incarnation was 
the humanizing of the divine, so in some sense, it 
was the divinizing of the human. As a young 
man with the dew of eternal youth, he sits now 
on the right hand of God in a glorified human 
body. He carried that body with him to his cross, 
to his grave, and to his throne. It bore the marks 
of the cross after his resurrection. It was sup- 
ported by needful food, and now glorified, it is ex- 



THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 63 

alted to the throne of the universe. The man who 
expects to honor God by dishonoring his body 
dishonors alike the creature and the Creator. Ever 
since the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day 
of Pentecost the body has been the temple of the 
third Person of the Trinity. We distinctly read, 
" Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost." On the 
day of Pentecost, there was an incarnation of the 
third Person of the Trinity as truly as there had 
been of the second Person in the child of the 
manger at Bethlehem. 

This truth needs to be emphasized ; this is the 
dispensation of the Spirit. He dwells now in the 
children of God. Shall a man dare destroy, dis- 
honor, or pollute the temple of the Holy Ghost? 
The man who overworks his body sins against 
God. The man who by intemperance in eating or 
drinking unfits his body for discharging its nor- 
mal functions, degrades himself and dishonors the 
Almighty. Intemperance even in lawful indul- 
gence is to be rebuked as a degrading sin against 
the most wonderful mechanism known among 
men, and as a defiant crime against God the author 
of this matchless creation. Indulgence, laziness, 
and selfishness are sins against health, happiness, 
and God. No man has a right to overwork, to 
overeat, or to practise undue indulgence in rest or 
in any rightful enjoyment. The man who sins 
against the simple economy of health has taken 
the crown from the brow of manhood and has at 
the same time defied the laws of the Almighty. 



64 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

It is true that many men with broken bodies 
have accomplished wonderful results in life. The 
names of John Calvin, Robert Hall, and a score 
more suggest themselves as illustrations of this 
truth. Let no man be discouraged who has in- 
herited a weak body. Great souls have often 
dwelt in frail tenements, until the tired body was 
laid to its rest and the great soul went up in 
triumph to God. But let those who have re- 
ceived the inheritance of physical health prize it 
as one of the great gifts of God. Let them care 
for it as one of the sacred inheritances of life, and 
let them lay it as a willing offering at the feet of 
the Lord Christ. In the case of many men, sick- 
ness is often a reflection on their good sense if not 
on their moral character. There is a glorious 
sense in which Christ heals our diseases as truly 
as he forgives our iniquities ; there is a blessed 
truth in the affirmation that he came to bear our 
sickness as truly as our sinfulness, and there is an 
unspeakable inspiration in the certainty that in 
heaven none of the inhabitants shall ever be sick. 
Let every man emphatically say " No " when 
tempted to violate the laws of God in his own 
body, adding with this unknown kinsman, ' ' Lest 
I mar mine own inheritance." 

2. There is also the inheritance of intellectual 
capabilities. Of course, there are great differences 
among men in these respects. But in our day 
ignorance is not simply a misfortune ; it is a crime. 
Christian men must develop all their faculties to 



THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 65 

their highest possibilities. All that they have 
and are belongs to Jesus Christ. No man has a 
right to be an intellectual dwarf when he might 
be something of a giant. Every man is bound, 
by the most sacred of obligations, to make the 
most of himself for time and for eternity. What a 
man is intellectually here will determine to some 
degree what he will be intellectually hereafter. 
The life to come is but the developed results of 
present conditions and attainments ; that life is 
but the ripened fruit of the intellectual and moral 
seed sown in this life. Every Christian, because 
inspired by a sense of loyalty to Jesus Christ, will 
desire to develop his intellectual powers to their 
utmost degree. He cannot but wish to possess 
numerous and varied mental faculties for the sal- 
vation of men and for the greater glory of the 
Iyord Jesus. He must, because of his Sonship 
with God, enlarge to their utmost capacity all his 
mental faculties. Christianity tends greatly to 
produce this result. True religion appeals to true 
reason. God summons our reasoning faculties to 
their fullest exercise and to their noblest achieve- 
ment. When God's thoughts come into men's 
hearts they stimulate their own thoughts to active 
exercise and to harmonious development. Divine 
love in human hearts puts enlarged brains into 
human heads. Religion stimulates every noble 
faculty of the soul. It consecrates and inspires 
poetic genius, and it lays its ennobling touch upon 
every logical faculty. Divine love made John 



66 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Bunyan the immortal dreamer ; it made Samuel 
Bradburn one of the great workers and orators in 
his church, a man of whom Dr. Abel Stevens said 
that, " during forty years Samuel Bradburn was 
esteemed the Demosthenes of Methodism " ; it 
made William Carey a profound scholar, a lofty 
thinker, a consecrated toiler, and an inspired 
genius. Christianity adorns culture with true 
symmetry and highest beauty ; and culture, in 
turn, gives Christianity its fullest beauty and its 
grandest opportunity. They ought never to be 
separated. Bach sweetly and divinely ministers 
to the other. 

Let no young man or woman neglect wide read- 
ing, careful study, and earnest thought. Young 
Christians should be model students. They have 
Jesus Christ for their teacher, and the noblest 
men and women in the world as their fellow- 
pupils. No man can so securely walk the dizzy 
heights of intellectual greatness as he who has sat 
in lowliest reverence at the feet of the Lord Jesus. 
He is the w r orld's great teacher. The school of 
Christ is the noblest university. Arise, oh young 
men and women, to your dignity as sons and 
daughters of the Lord Almighty ! Take advan- 
tage of every opportunity for intellectual culture, 
and then let the love of Christ sanctify that cul- 
ture to his greatest glory. Intellectual indolence 
is a sin against our noble nature and against the 
great God, the world's foremost thinker and vour 
own Creator and Redeemer. When the great 



THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 67 

thoughts of God come into the soul, plowing 
their way through our whole being, they lift us 
to the noblest heights of human endeavor and 
achievement. They give us conscious kinship 
with angels and God. When tempted to intel- 
lectual slothfulness, ring out an emphatic refusal 
lest you mar your inheritance of noble intellectual 
possibilities. You ought to surpass all ungodly 
men and women along every line of intellectual 
attainment and noble endeavor. You ought to 
win the highest honors in the race of life. 

3. There is also, in the third place, the in- 
heritance of a worthy family history. This is a 
great, an unspeakable gift. It is a gift above the 
worth of all mere financial values. A good name 
is more to be desired than gold, yea, than much 
fine gold. A good name is the ripe product of 
years of noble ancestral character. There is, 
whatever may be said to the contrary, much in 
blood. It is quite true that a man cannot on 
heraldic crutches strut across the stage of life so 
as to secure the respect of thinking men. We 
insist in these days upon having worth in men 
themselves. We ask not so much who their 
grandfather was, nor what he did, but who they 
themselves are and what they can do. Neverthe- 
less, what a man is and what he can do will de- 
pend in no small degree upon who his grandfather 
was and what he did. There is often an esprit de 
corps in a noble family history which is influen- 
tial in preserving its nobility. It takes years to 



68 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

acquire a worthy character, either as a personal 
possession or as a business influence ; but when 
possessed its value is inestimably great. 

There is a vast difference between character and 
reputation. Reputation is what men think we 
are ; character is what God knows us to be. Rep- 
utation is seeming ; character is being. Reputa- 
tion is the breath of men ; character is the in- 
breathing of the eternal God. One may for a 
time have a good reputation and a bad character, 
or the reverse ; but not for long. What is in will 
come out. It is impossible for any man long to 
play the hypocrite. No man falls suddenly, ex- 
cept in the eyes of his fellow-men. The man who 
falls has long been leaning in the eyes of God. It 
is indescribably sad that a man after years of noble 
living may in an hour ruin both reputation and 
character. It is sad that man}' sons mar the value 
of a worthy family name and history. They drag 
down their father's name into the mire of their 
own vileness. They are like Hophni and Phine- 
has, the unworthy sons of the gentle and kindly 
Kli, priest and judge of Israel. They break the 
heart of their mother, and discrown the gray head 
of their father. Is there a man who has wandered 
from his father's and his mother's God ? Is there 
one who has lowered the standard of a noble 
family life and history ? Is there one who is be- 
smirching his name and staining his character by 
unholy thoughts and impure acts ? In the name 
of that worthy familv historv, in the name of an 



THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 69 

ideal family life, in the name of the great God and 
Father of us all, I beseech him to stop and to stop 
now. He is marring his own inheritance. 

It is a blessed thing to be able to give a noble 
family inheritance to one's children. Almost all 
that many of us can give our children will be a 
worthy name. Almost all that any of us can ever 
expect to possess in this world will be a good 
name. L,et us carefully guard it ; let us sacredly 
preserve it ; let us continually honor it ; let us 
never so live that our children shall be ashamed 
of the name which they bear. L,et us send it 
down to them as an honored inheritance to which 
they shall add honors for all the generations to 
come. Such a name is worth more than bonds or 
gold. Many a man would rather have honest 
poverty than dishonest wealth. A little time ago 
in this city, in a professional man's office, a man 
of wealth was ashamed to give his name. His 
father had dishonored that name. Men's sins go 
down to the third and fourth generation still. 
Many men sin against their children by making 
them heirs of disease and dishonor. God pity 
such children. God have mercy on such parents. 

4. There is also, in the last place, the inherit- 
ance of religious possibilities. Intellectual attain- 
ments and religious experiences cannot be trans- 
mitted to our children. We can transmit our 
vices ; but, strictly speaking, not our virtues. We 
can transmit our sins but not our graces. There 
is a sense, however, in which we can transmit 



70 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

tendencies toward good and God or toward evil 
and the devil. There is a divine truth in much 
that is said regarding heredity in our day. It is 
much for a man to be able to say " my father's 
God " ; it is vastly easier for such a man to say, 
" My Lord and my God" after having been taught 
to say " my father's God. " Children of Christian 
men and women stand upon a vastly higher plane 
of possibility than the children of ungodly men 
and women. The time may come when the 
natural will be much more like the supernatural 
than as we now see it. Indeed, there is a sense 
in which there is no distinction between the 
natural and supernatural. God is active in all 
spheres of nature. 

The possibility of being translated out of the 
kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's 
dear Son ought to be realized in early childhood. 
No man, however far he may go into sin, can 
shake off entirely the influences of a godly parent- 
age and of early religious training. These in- 
fluences will follow him in all his departures from 
the God of his father and mother. They will ar- 
rest his thoughts in his moments of sin, and they 
will be present both to rebuke and to inspire him 
in his ways of penitence. Early religious training 
becomes an inseparable part of the soul's essential 
life. During the last week I talked with a man 
who had just recovered from a period of dissipa- 
tion, and with broken voice and moist eyes, he 
said : " How could I so far forget myself, so greatly 



THE ENDANGERED INHERITANCE 7 1 

dishonor my sainted parents, and so wickedly dis- 
obey my father's God?" Oh, children of God's 
children, prize your privileges. Oh, realize your 
possibilities. Oh, make their God your God and 
your portion fore verm ore. 

Out of his historic obscurity comes this kins- 
man of Naomi, and into this obscurity he passes 
again ; but he has left on record a warning which 
for three thousand years has been uttering its 
wholesome suggestions. Regarding all these in- 
heritances that we have named let this anonymous 
kinsman give us instruction and suggestion. With 
a fuller meaning than he could have known, let 
us refuse to obey the promptings of evil compan- 
ions, the suggestions of our own corrupt hearts, 
and the temptations of Satan, lest we mar our 
noble, our immortal, our divine inheritance. 

It is possible for us to rise on stepping-stones of 
our dead selves to wondrous heights of Christian 
attainment, We remember how the Laureate 
puts it : 

I held it truth with him who sings 
To one clear harp in divers tones, 
That men may rise on stepping-stones 
Of their dead selves to higher things. 

It is a profoundly solemn thought that our 
lives are to be lived over again in laying founda- 
tions for the generations yet to come. In Ruth, 
the Rose of Moab, part of the Gentile strain of 
blood came into the life of Christ. Each one 
of us may in a more real sense make our lives a 



72 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

part of his and his life a part of ours. We may 
become partakers of the divine nature. God grant 
that we may never mar any part of our glorious, 
our immortal, our divine inheritance. May we 
add dignity and glory thereto by accepting Jesus 
Christ as our personal Saviour, and so become par- 
takers of the divine nature ! 



V 
THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD 



G 



• ' . . . And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, 
which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox- 
goad : and he also delivered Israel " Judges 3 : 31. 



THE subject here presented brings before us a 
strange story of the olden time. It is a 
story which suggests to us rude manners, fierce 
conflicts, and cruel conquests. It is a story which 
shows us how God's people prospered when they 
were right with God, and how they were defeated 
when they turned away from God and served the 
gods of their idolatrous neighbors. It is also a 
story which illustrates what one man may do for 
his country, his faith, and his God, when his heart 
is brave and his arm strong. 

The condition of the country at this time was 
sad indeed ; the Israelites were greatly oppressed 
and correspondingly depressed. Their enemies 
had so overrun . the country that it was almost 
useless to till their soil or to sow the seed, as in 
no case could a profitable harvest be secured. The 
highways were so infested with robbers that they 
were well-nigh deserted by all others. The peo- 
ple were obliged to go in byways and in the daik. 
They could not in open day go to the public wells ; 
for their enemies had surrounded them ; and 
finally many of the people were obliged to hide 
in inaccessible dens in the mountains. At this 
sad time Sham gar was the man chosen of God to 
be the deliverer of the people. In every crisis 

75 



j6 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

God has the right man ready to come forward, 
perform his work, and honor God's great name. 
When Israel is to be led out of Egypt, God has 
Moses trained for leadership. So God prepared 
and called Joshua, David, Solomon, Elijah, and 
Elisha. In like manner, in due time, he called 
Paul and Augustine. In later days Calvin and 
Luther; then Wesley and Whitefield. God has 
use for the rough mountaineers of Lebanon to 
hew down the cedars, as truly as for Hiram's cun- 
ning Tyrian workmen to mold the brass and to 
carve the fretwork for the temple. God calls men 
who are engaged in lowly work to nobler service ; 
thus he called Moses from the flocks of Jethro to 
his high commission, and Gideon from the thresh- 
ing-floor to achieve national triumph. God called 
Peter, John, and Andrew from their nets to be fish- 
ers of men ; and Matthew from the receipt of cus- 
tom to be an evangelist and an apostle ; so God 
called Shamgar, who seems to have been engaged in 
plowing when the grander work was presented. 

God puts before us all great possibilities, but 
he makes faithfulness in our present calling a nec- 
essary preparation for taking advantage of our 
great opportunities. Doors of opportunity open 
quickly to the touch of industry. Only as we are 
faithful in lowly spheres do we show that we are 
worthy of promotion to higher ranges of duty; 
our divine Lord formulated this great law when 
he said: "He that is faithful in that which is 
least, is faithful also in much." God always 



THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD JJ 

loves and approves busy and faithful men ; and 
such men are always an inspiration and a benedic- 
tion. The world is constantly looking for such 
men ; and there is no corner of the universe suf- 
ficiently obscure long to hide men of worth and 
power. God reaches out his hand to such men ; 
churches, banks, great corporations, call loudly, 
winsomely, and authoritatively for such men. 
Great institutions are anxious to promote men 
whose character and ability make them essential 
to the highest prosperity of these institutions. 
But the greatest unkindness that a business house, 
a corporation, a church, or a nation can do, is to 
promote to a lofty place a man who is unfitted 
for the position. Such a man may hide his de- 
fects in private life, but when exalted to a high 
place his deficiencies become painfully conspic- 
uous. 

A good record for faithful service is one of the 
best diplomas which any young man can possess ; 
years of faithful service become rounds of the lad- 
der up which a man may climb to the highest 
place. Every man should strive to make himself 
indispensable to his employer. A man in my 
study recently said : " I can speak nine languages, 
and I can read thirteen, but I cannot earn my 
own living ; all my diplomas will not make the 
pot boil, unless I were to put them all under it at 
one time and consume them in a grand conflagra- 
tion." This man was unfitted by practical expe- 
rience, by sound common sense, and by years of 



78 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

earnest service for any position requiring varied 
intellectual abilities. We all ought to strive for 
that strange something which secures success. 
There is force in Carlyle's emphasis of the real 
meaning of the word " king " ; he is the " canning 
man" — the man who can do it. He is the able 
man, whether or not we can analyze and define 
the subtle elements which constitute his real abili- 
ties. Napoleon was accustomed to ask, when ap- 
plicants for various positions came to him : 
"What have you done ? " and the answer to that 
question determined to a great degree the position 
which the applicant might expect. 

We sometimes say that circumstances make 
men ; but as usually understood this statement is 
incorrect. If circumstances alone made men, 
there would be a great many more men made, for 
there certainly are circumstances enough. Cir- 
cumstances make men only as men use their op- 
portunities, as they overcome unfavorable condi- 
tions, and take advantage of those which conduce 
to the highest success. Circumstances are like 
the laws of gravitation ; they make or unmake us. 
If we put ourselves in line with these great laws 
they will bear us on to prosperity ; if we oppose 
them, their irresistible momentum will crush us 
in their onward progress. Work and worth are 
the true standard of value. Cost and worth are 
ever close neighbors. If we want pebbles, we 
can pick them up by the handfuls almost any- 
where, but when possessed they are only pebbles. 



THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD 79 

If we want diamonds, we must dig for them. 
Why is an ounce of gold of more value than an 
ounce of lead? Largely because it takes more 
work to get an ounce of gold than it takes 
to get an ounce of lead. Many men want the 
honors of wealth and education, but they are not 
willing to pay the price for both in hard labor ; 
they want noonday honors for men, but they are 
not willing to pay the price in burning midnight 
oil. 

In like manner, there are many who want the 
blessings of a Christian life, but they are not will- 
ing to pay the price in self-renunciation and in 
Christian service ; they want the crown, but they 
will not bear the cross. But no man shall wear 
yonder crown with its glittering gems, except he 
take up Christ's cross with its cruel nails. This 
is an eternal law. Will you to-day take up the 
cross ? If you do, some future day you shall wear 
the crown. I would that all might feel the force 
of these plain and homely truths. I am always 
disheartened when I hear young men talk as if 
they trusted to luck for success. L,uck is a fool ; 
pluck is a hero. Only fools trust in the god of 
luck. When I hear a young man speak as if he 
believed himself to be the possessor of genius 
which relieves him from the necessity of doing 
hard work, I have little hope for him ; and when 
I find that his mother agrees with him, I have 
less hope for either him or her. Shamgar was a 
patient, plodding, industrious man. We need 



80 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

such men in the church ; men who go on plow- 
ing even though the enemies of Christ are numer- 
ous and powerful ; even though the friends of 
Christ are fearful and faithless. Carey, our im- 
mortal missionary, when asked the reason of his 
success, answered in three words, "I can plod." 
Plodding, with the blessing of God, made Carey. 
Plodding and fighting made Shamgar, the plow- 
man, the judge of Israel. 

Shamgar was also a very brave man. His ene- 
mies were many and strong ; the friends of liberty 
were few and weak. But he did not lose hope 
nor turn away from duty. He kept right on per- 
forming his duty in his lowly sphere, until God 
gave him the opportunity for rendering greater 
service. If he had been a coward, he had not 
been a plowman in his discouraging circum- 
stances ; if he had been a coward when the six 
hundred Philistines came in sight, he would have 
been out of sight as fast as his feet could carry 
him. But no coward was Shamgar, the plow- 
man ; he trusted that God would deliver Israel ; 
and he determined to do his part toward securing 
the deliverance for which he hoped and prayed. 
It is barely possible that we are not to understand 
that he attacked those six hundred Philistines 
alone ; perhaps all that is meant by the language 
here used is that he put himself at the head of a 
band of peasants, armed with ox-goads and other 
rude implements, and with the help of these won 
the glorious victory. It is common for us to as- 



THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD 8 1 

cribe to a leader what is accomplished under his 
leadership. With the help of his associates he 
made the desperate assault and slew six hundred 
of his and their enemies. This brave act secured 
a temporary respite for him and his people, as it 
struck terror into the hearts of the rebellious 
Canaanites. 

We all need similar bravery in our Christian 
conflicts. We have foes many and strong which 
we must destroy or they will destroy us. We 
must fight against the world, the flesh, and the 
devil ; and these three foes will come to us in 
many forms. They will sometimes come even as 
angels of light ; but we must be quick to recog- 
nize real foes under fair faces, and we must cut 
and hew them without hesitancy or mercy. As 
much courage is needed in the Christian life as on 
the field of battle. Many a man could walk 
boldly to the cannon's mouth who would hesitate 
to affirm his faith in the presence of jeering men 
or fair but foolish women. Glorious moral vic- 
tories are lost for the want of prompt and unwa- 
vering courage. We should be as bold for Christ 
as are the servants of Satan for their cruel master. 
It is a pity that so many Christians play the 
coward and the fool when they should be heroes 
and victors. We all love a man with the courage 
of his convictions. Bravery is contagious. We 
all feel the influence of a noble, true, and conse- 
crated life the moment we are brought into its 
atmosphere. I believe with Dr. Holmes that the 



82 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

atmosphere for a considerable distance — perhaps 
for several feet — around a brave man is charged 
with inspiration. Science has enabled us to 
measure the degree of heat which is generated in 
a firefly's flash ; and the time may come when 
science will enable us to measure the amount of 
inspiration or depression generated by the heroes 
or cowards whom we meet. Whatever we may 
call this influence, its existence can scarcely be 
denied. We all know of men whose presence 
cheers, inspires, and exalts. We all love to meet 
them on the street. There are others who take 
power, life, and hope out of us. You might 
almost as well give them your arm and let them 
take from you a pint of blood as to give them a 
portion of your time, and let them take from you 
your courage and hope. Sham gar seems to have 
inspired other men to brave and noble deeds ; he 
stimulated them to serve God and to save their 
native land. He mourned over the deserted vil- 
lages, the inaccessible wells, and the discouraged 
people of the land. Now he comes forth to be a 
deliverer. God made his hand strong and his 
heart brave. God multiply the Shamgars in all 
our churches ! 

Shamgar was skillful in the use of the weapon 
which he had. He had only an ox-goad with 
which to attack the foe. He might have plead 
the inadequacy of his weapon as an excuse for 
refusing to attack the foe ; but he was not that 
kind of a man. The word translated a ox-goad" 



THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD 83 

is from a root which literally means " an instructor 
of oxen " ; it was an instrument which brought 
oxen into obedience. Sometimes it has been 
translated a coulter or a plowshare ; and the ox- 
goad still used in Palestine is a weapon which 
if wielded by a strong hand may be very destruc- 
tive. Some of these ox-goads are from eight to 
ten feet long, and at the largest end they are often 
six inches in circumference. The shaft is fre- 
quently made of an oak sapling. These goads 
are armed at the smaller end with a sharp prick 
for driving the oxen, and at the other end with a 
small paddle or spade of iron for cleaning the 
plow from the clay which often sticks to the 
share. It was probably with such a goad that 
Shamgar made his terrible assault. 

We are constantly excusing ourselves from 
doing our duty because we do not, as we claim, 
possess proper facilities for our work. We charge 
our failure on our condition, on our partners, on 
our companions, on anybody or anything except 
ourselves. This is an old trick. The shirking of 
responsibility came into the world with sin. 
"The woman thou gavest me," said Adam, in 
the ungallant and cowardly spirit induced by his 
heinous sin. It is easy to see that in blaming the 
woman Adam really meant to blame God. This 
is the tendency of sin in every age and country. 
This tendency reveals itself to-day when men talk 
unwisely of heredity and environment. There are 
elements of truth in both, but as often used they 



84 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

are made practically to excuse man and virtually 
to accuse God for our weakness and sinfulness. 
We are following too closely the example of Adam 
in this respect. A poor carver always has a dull 
knife. 

Many a man says, " If my circumstances were 
different I could easily be a Christian ; if I only 
had large amounts of money I could be generous. " 
We ought at once to stop such wicked and weak 
speech. If we will not serve God in the circum- 
stances in which we are placed, we would npt 
serve him in changed conditions. If we will not 
obey God now, we would have disobeyed him in 
Eden. We may as well discontinue chasing 
Adam up and down the centuries and turn our 
thoughts to our own weak disobedience and 
wicked rebellion against God. We may as well 
understand at once that for our want of success 
in the Christian life, we are ourselves to blame. 
The words of Shakespeare illustrate, at least to 
some degree, every man's experience : 

Men at some time are masters of their fates : 
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, 
But in ourselves, that we are underlings. 

Part of our duty in life is to overcome even- 
unfavorable tendency and every inhospitable en- 
vironment. We ought to develop skill in the use 
of the instruments, the opportunities, and the 
circumstances with which we stand connected. 
It is a glorious thins: to snatch victory from the 



THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD 85 

jaws of defeat ; to make hostile conditions the 
ground of sublime triumphs ; and to recast all 
our circumstances so as to make them the inspira- 
tion of heroic struggle and glorious victory. 
Skill in the use of the weapons that we possess 
we ought to study to acquire. 

I love to see how Shamgar won victory with a 
comparatively powerless instrument ; he found a 
new use for an old tool. Many of the discoveries 
in astronomy, chemistry, mathematics, navigation, 
and science generally, were made with very im- 
perfect instruments. Dr. Valentine Mott's re- 
markable surgical skill is the more honorable be- 
cause of his comparatively poor instruments. 
True genius shows itself in accomplishing grand 
results with imperfect tools. Rittenhouse, whose 
name is a synonym for marvelous scientific at- 
tainments, worked in boyhood on his father's 
farm, and calculated eclipses on plow handles 
and fences ; and, although studying alone, made 
himself master of Newton's " Principia," and dis- 
covered for himself the method of fluxions when 
in his nineteenth year. It is little wonder that 
when he observed the transit of Venus, June 3, 
1769, while in his private observatory at Norri- 
ton, he fainted from excitement at the moment 
of apparent contact. Benjamin West, the Anglo- 
American painter, made his first colors from leaves 
and berries, and his first brushes were taken from 
a cat's tail. Thus self-taught, at the age of sixteen 
he practised portrait painting in the villages near 

H 



86 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Philadelphia, his first historical picture being 
"The Death of Socrates." When but a child he 
drew the outline of his baby-sister's face as she 
lay sleeping in the cradle. His mother discovered 
in the rough outline genius, if not skill. She 
kissed her boy with motherly affection and en- 
thusiasm ; and he tells us that that kiss made him 
an artist. 

A boy in England was run over by the cars, and 
the blood spurted from a severed artery. Astley 
Cooper stopped the bleeding by pressing with his 
handkerchief above the wound. This sensible 
act was the prophecy of his fame as the foremost 
surgeon of his day. The boy Galileo watched a 
lamp left swinging by accident in the Cathedral 
at Pisa, and learned from the regularity of its 
oscillations the useful principle of the pendulum. 
Astronomers for ages had been familiar with the 
rings of Saturn ; but Laplace learned from them 
that they were visible evidences of the process of 
star manufacture, and he thus added a valuable 
contribution to the history of creation. Humphry 
Davy had but little opportunity to acquire scien- 
tific knowledge ; but he made old pans, kettles, 
and bottles contribute to his success as he experi- 
mented in the attic of the apothecary store in 
which he was employed. Over a stable in London 
lived Michael Faraday, a poor boy, who made a 
living by carrying newspapers to customers. 
While apprenticed to a book-binder and engaged 
in binding the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," his 



THE ENNOBLED OX-GOAD 87 

eyes fell on the article on electricity. He had 
only a glass vial, an old pan, and a few other 
articles with which to make experiments. A 
friend took him to hear Sir Humphry Davy lec- 
ture on chemistry. Later the great Davy called 
on the humble Michael. The years pass ; and 
Tyndall said of Faraday, " He is the greatest ex- 
perimental philosopher the world has ever seen." 
When Sir Humphry Davy was asked what was 
his greatest discovery, he replied : " Michael Fara- 
day." Kepler showed his genius in struggling 
with poverty and hardships, in having his books 
burned by order of the State, and later locked up 
by the Jesuits, and himself exiled by public 
clamor. But this boy, with few instruments and 
fewer opportunities, became one of the world's 
greatest astronomers. Time would fail to tell of 
the heroic souls in every department of human 
effort who have triumphed over apparently insur- 
mountable difficulties, and have won sublime vic- 
tories as the result of inherent genius and untiring 
effort. 

No matter how weak are our weapons if God 
strengthens our arm. The ox-goad, with God's 
help, is mightier than Goliath's sword wielded by 
an arm of flesh. God often chooses weak things 
to confound the mighty. God designs that the 
excellency of his power may reveal itself in the 
weakness of our instruments. Oh, church of the 
living God, arise in thy might ; put on thy 
strength ; consecrate old tools to new uses. De- 



88 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

velop thy latent power ; destroy thy foolish con- 
servatism. Use anything, use everything for God. 
The pulpit and the pew, the charms of women 
and the winsomeness of children, the glory of 
music and the power of eloquence, new methods 
and old truths to honor God and to bless men — 
these are to be consecrated to-day. I summon the 
Shamgars with their ox-goads to-day. We defy, 
and we shall destroy, our Philistine foes. We 
shall heroically do our part, and then pray God to 
send his Deborahs and Baraks to complete the 
deliverance, and to sing the song of triumph, 
while we shall give the glory to God's Israel and 
to Israel's God. 



VI 
THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 



-And it came to pass, that wtu* Jtkudi ka -« or 

four hares, he cut it wilk ti, - I "■ " " «* *» 

fire that was on the hearth, until all tht roll was consumed 

in the fire that was on the tea ri Jcr. 36 : 23. 



VI 

THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 

THE period of Jewish history with which the 
text stands connected is, even to some in- 
telligent Christians, largely a " terra incognita." 
L,et us strive to get a clear idea of its character. 
The kingdom of Judah was a kingdom only in 
name at this time ; it was really in a state of al- 
ternate vassalage between Egypt and Assyria. 
The kings of Judah were kings only in name ; 
they were retained or dismissed according to the 
personal whims or political exigencies of their 
masters. It was a time of misrule and imbecility 
on the part of the king, and of suffering and de- 
spair on the part of the people. Enormous taxes 
were raised from the people to satisfy the demand 
of foreign powers, and also to gratify the pride 
and folly of the nominal king. Foreign oppression 
was matched by home cruelty. The distant mut- 
terings of the coming storm were heard. 

At this crisis one man stands before the people 
with majestic pose, and utters the voice of author- 
itative warning. It is none other than Jeremiah, 
the great, noble, and suffering prophet of the most 
high God. Protected in his earlier years by the 
influence of the pious Josiah, he became under 



92 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Jehoiakim the object of fierce attack, and his 
prophetic ministry was opposed alike by the king, 
the priests, the prophets, and the populace. He 
was brought before the civil authorities and they 
were urged to inflict capital punishment upon him 
because of his threatening prophecy. Neverthe- 
less, all through this dark period, he strove to 
avert, or at least to lessen, the force of the blow 
which he saw must soon fall upon the land. That 
tremendous empire, the Assyrian, was at the time 
in great power, splendor, and glory, Babylon being 
then its capital. 

Nebuchadnezzar was associated with his father 
in ruling over the kingdoms, and he was in com- 
mand of the forces of Assyria. It was a time 
when the very earth seemed to tremble beneath 
the tread of these mighty armies. They were 
advancing with irresistible power ; and carnage 
and triumph marked every step of their progress. 
Most clearly did the prophetic eye of Jeremiah 
see the coming storm. Long had he striven to 
bring the people back to their allegiance to God ; 
in royal palace and in sacred temple he fearlessly, 
patriotically, and piously lifted up his warning 
voice. But his words were unheeded by the in- 
fatuated people ; they were deaf alike to warning 
and entreaty. 

The long-threatened storm is now near ; the 
cyclonic destruction is at hand. IyOng ago would 
its fury have burst upon the people, but for the 
virtues of the good king Josiah. But he was 



THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 93 

wounded by a random arrow in the battle near 
Megiddo, was removed by his attendants from the 
war-chariot, and was finally borne in sorrow to 
Jerusalem, where he died after a reign of thirty- 
one years. Deeply was he lamented by all his 
subjects. So sad a death had never been known 
in Jewish history ; and Jeremiah composed an 
elegiac ode on the occasion, an ode which was 
long preserved in the memory of the minstrels as 
a national lamentation. But Jehoiakim would 
learn nothing from the warnings of God's prophet, 
or the inflictions of God's providence. 

It is possible for us now to get the immediate 
surroundings of the story so that its facts and les- 
sons may be the more fully impressed upon our 
minds. It is now the fourth year of the reign of 
Jehoiakim, and about the year 605 b. c. God's 
word came to Jeremiah, commanding him to write 
a summary of all the sermons which he had 
preached since the third year of Josiah ; and the 
hope is expressed that the people will hear the voice 
of God and the instructions of his prophet. But 
Jeremiah had not the pen of a ready writer ; in 
this respect Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, 
excelled ; he is, therefore, employed as Jeremiah's 
amanuensis. There had been confidential rela- 
tions between these two men previous to this time. 
It seems likely that Jeremiah was now "shut up " 
in some such sense that he could not himself go 
into the house of the Lord. Baruch, therefore, 
wrote the predictions on pieces of parchment ; 



94 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

these pieces were joined together, the top of one 
to the bottom of the other, thus making a long 
scroll, which would naturally be rolled on a staff 
prepared for the purpose. Jeremiah, as I have 
said, was at this time in some sort a prisoner ; 
perhaps he was not in close confinement ; but 
he was at least forbidden by Jehoiakim the king, 
from appearing in the temple. By silencing the 
prophet of God, Jehoiakim thought he could defeat 
the purpose of God. Jeremiah, therefore, deputed 
Baruch to go and to read the prediction publicly 
on the fast-day. 

A year passes, either in preparing the book 
or in other readings of it, before this great and 
formal presentation. The government seems to 
be somewhat alarmed, as a fast-day has been 
appointed. Perhaps the hostile armies are now 
near, and famine, slavery, and death with all 
the other horrors of war stare the people in the 
face. Baruch, the amanuensis of Jeremiah and 
the sharer of his dungeon, appeared in the cham- 
ber of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, who was 
friendly to the cause, and standing in the window 
or balcony, or, as Dean Stanley suggests, on the 
platform or pillar on which the king stood on 
solemn occasions, he repeated the sad lamentations 
and fearful prophecies to the people assembled for 
the national fast. Micaiah descended the temple 
hill and informed the princes ; they were met in 
council in the palace, in the apartments of the 
chief secretary, as was the custom during these 



THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 95 

troublous times. They summoned the people to 
the house of the Lord, although they do not seem 
to have come themselves. Now Baruch is sent 
for by Jehudi, the descendant of a noble house 
and a page of the king, and ordered to sit down 
and read to them the roll. This Baruch readily 
did, giving an account of the manner in which 
the prophecy had been composed. The princes 
were much affected as they patiently listened ; 
they trembled with fear as did Felix. The re- 
proofs were terrible, the threatenings solemn, and 
the predictions sure. For a time consternation 
seems to have prevailed over the minds of all the 
counsellors ; and they finally agreed to tell the 
king what they had heard. But knowing the 
cruelty of the king, they advised Jeremiah and 
Baruch to leave the roll and to hide them- 
selves. These counsellors were moved by fright, 
but they were not subdued by faith ; they were 
convinced, but they were not converted. 

The roll had now been read to the people ; it 
had also been recited to the princes, to whose 
hearts it struck terror. Now the fierce and law- 
less king must hear its fearful contents. The roll 
was laid up in the chamber of Elishama the 
scribe, in the chamber where the princes heard it 
read, and they told the king, who sent Jehudi to 
bring it. Jehudi obeyed. 

The king sits by the fire in his winter parlor 
on that December day, sits by the charcoal pan 
or brazier which stood on the hearth. The 



96 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

princes stand aronnd him filled with alarm be- 
cause of the threatenings of God's wrath, and 
because of the easily aroused wrath of the king. 
Jehudi reads the roll ; reads it perhaps imper- 
fectly ; reads it with comparatively little appre- 
ciation of its contents. Better if it had been 
read by Baruch or Jeremiah. The king, how- 
ever, soon catches its meaning. Its bitter denun- 
ciations fill him with uncontrollable wrath. 
But three or four of the pages, or rather columns, 
were recited when the king's patience was ex- 
hausted ; he seized the penknife, such as scribes 
usually had for cuttings and erasures, and cut the 
parchment into strips ; and, notwithstanding the 
remonstrances of his counsellors, threw it into the 
fire on the hearth, and soon it was consumed. 
He then ordered Jeremiah and Baruch to be seized, 
but they had followed the suggestions given them, 
and had hid themselves so that they could not be 
found. 

The act of the king was a high-handed outrage ; 
it was an act of daring impiety ; it was an awlul 
affront to the God of heaven. The king was im- 
patient of reproof ; he was determined to pursue 
his own course, resolved to persist in sin. He 
would have cut up and burned the preacher in- 
stead of the sermon if he could have laid his 
hands on him. No wonder that the memory of 
his impious act lingered long with the people ; no 
wonder that the Jews, even to this day, commem- 
orate the burning of this roll by an annual fast 



THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 97 

Jehoiakim was determined to run against the 
thick bosses of the Almighty's buckler; he was 
determined to defy God and to invite the just 
wrath of the Almighty. 

This story of the olden time furnishes us with 
many lessons for modern life. 

1. We learn, from this story, that God has many 
ways of rebuking and warning men. The method 
that he uses depends upon the nature of the person 
to be rebuked, and upon all the circumstances of 
the case. He rebuked Pharaoh in many ways and 
by means of varied instrumentalities. He spoke 
to Nebuchadnezzar in language which he could 
not fail to understand. He uttered a warning 
voice to Belshazzar by the writing on the wall 
which Daniel interpreted. Through the instru- 
mentality of Pilate's wife, a noble Roman woman, 
he spoke to Pilate's judgment and conscience. 
God still speaks with varied voices and in the use 
of manifold arguments. Men ought to listen in 
the whirl of business, in the quiet home, on a bed 
of sickness, and in the house of God, to the voice 
of the Eternal, speaking in warning and in ex- 
hortation, in rebuke and in promise. To-day, oh 
men and women, harden not your hearts, but 
listen to the voice of God warning you of danger, 
summoning you to repentance, and proffering you 
his full and free forgiveness. 

2. We may learn that men's hearts may become 
so hardened that they will not heed God's warn- 
ing. Jehoiakim determined to do what he desired, 

i 



98 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

whatever God's prophet might say. The inevit- 
able result of slighting God's warning is that the 
heart becomes hard. The boy who blushed when 
he stole an apple may finally dye his hand in the 
blood of his fellow-men without compunction. 
The sponge attracts to itself particles of silex 
until finally it becomes a silicious mass. So the 
heart changes into stone ; so men and women may 
reach a stage when they literally are " past feel- 
ing." Some of you are distinctly conscious that 
once your hearts were tender, that once your tears 
flowed in a penitent flood, that once you were 
willing that men should know that you were 
anxious about your soul. But now all such emo- 
tions are gone, you have become hardened ; you 
are resisting God ; you are imitating the example 
of Pharaoh and of Jehoiakim. Oh, it is terrible 
to carry in one's bosom a stone instead of a heart. 
I beseech you that to-day you listen to the voice 
of warning and of entreaty. Remember that "he 
that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, 
shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without 
remedy." 

3. We learn that some men think they can 
avert God's threatenings by destroying or disbe- 
lieving God's communications. "Abominable 
parchment ! " So Jehoiakim may have said : 
" How it disturbs my pleasures ; away with it ; 
begone, miserable old prophet ! " So he throws 
the parchment on the coals in the brazier. See 
it burn. Now it is consumed. Now the king 



THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 99 

seems to say, "The judgments of God cannot 
come." Was ever foolish man so foolish ; was 
ever childish petulance so petulant and childish? 
Did not God know how to execute the sentence 
when the roll was burned? Did the roll cause 
the approaching disaster ? You expect to go on 
an excursion some summer day ; you examine the 
weather in the morning paper ; you wish to dis- 
cover what are the indications for the day. You 
read, " Showers at intervals all the morning. " Are 
you so silly as to think destroying that paper will 
avert those showers? The doctrines of God's 
word are unwelcome to some men ; therefore these 
doctrines are untrue. They fear the judgment of 
a just and holy God ; therefore they deny that there 
is a God. Men deny that there is a hell ; they 
deny its existence because they fear its reality. 
The Bible does not create hell ; the Bible only 
reveals it. And in revealing it we have a proof 
of the love of God to the children of men. Christ 
gives us the fullest revelation of hell that we ever 
had ; indeed, he uncovered the pit. He gave us 
this revelation to guard us from destruction, as 
the brakeman swings his red lamp to warn the 
approaching train of danger. Christ was as loving 
in his warnings as in his invitations. 

4. We learn from this story that God's word 
shall stand, whatever men may do or say. God's 
threatenings will be fulfilled, and additional ones 
will be given and additional dangers incurred. 
Jeremiah and Baruch had to flee from the wrath 



100 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

of the king ; his rage knew no bounds. He was 
not willing to confess his sins, so he turned against 
the preacher who rebuked him for his sin.. Baruch 
was disheartened at the failure of his mission ; 
but Jeremiah knew God better than did his 
amanuensis, so he commanded Baruch to take his 
pen and write again the terrible message. It thus 
came to pass that the counsel of God against the 
king stood sure ; that a fresh roll was written with 
the addition of a further and an awful denuncia- 
tion, occasioned by the king's foolish and sacri- 
legious act. The king and the country are 
doomed ; the cup of God's wrath must be emptied. 
The cloud charged with fire and brimstone was 
for a time held over Sodom, but it was not re- 
moved ; its contents at the appointed moment 
were poured out. The postponement of the afflic- 
tion upon Jehoiakim was not indefinite. God's 
word could not be destroyed. It is like the burn- 
ing bush — it burns but is not consumed. This 
terrible prediction regarding the king was made : 
" He shall have none to sit upon the throne of 
David ; and his dead body shall be cast out in the 
day to the heat, and in the night to the frost." 
But even this terrible threat made but little im- 
pression upon him, for he still continued to sin 
against the Lord his God. 

The blessed Bible has been often burned ; but 
as a divine Phoenix it comes forth from its ashes. 
The written word is indestructible ; the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it. Heaven and 



THE MUTILATED MESSAGE IOI 

earth shall pass away, but not one jot or tittle of 
the divine word shall perish. The unbelief of 
man shall not make the word of the ever-living 
God of non-effect. You may burn the book, but 
you cannot destroy the word ; you may break the 
table of stone, but the finger of God shall write 
the law on other stones. " The grass withereth, 
the flower fadeth ; but the word of our God shall 
stand forever." Glorious Bible ! Blessed revela- 
tion ! This book shall stand when all its critics 
are utterly forgotten. Every threat, as well as 
every promise, shall be fulfilled. Because you do 
not read the Bible, perhaps do not believe it 
or its author, you do not by your unbelief blot out 
perdition or dethrone God. God's word, like 
God's three brave witnesses, may be put into the 
furnace, heated seven times hotter than it was 
wont to be heated, but it shall come forth without 
the smell of fire on its leaves. Disobedience on 
the part of Judah's king brought into his own 
heart more arrows from God's quiver. A worse 
thing, Christ intimates, might come to the man 
healed at the pool of Bethesda than his infirmity 
of thirty and eight years. There are still other 
arrows in the quiver of the Almighty. Oh, men 
and women, believe and obey God's word to-day ! 
If you do, it will be well with you in time and 
blessed with you in eternity. 

5. We may learn still one other lesson : No man 
can oppose God and prosper. Hear the conclu- 
sion of this story of the olden time. The wrath 



102 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

of God came upon the king and his whole family 
The King of kings will not lightly pass over the 
indignity which the king of Jndah put on his law 
and on his word. Jehoiakim was perhaps especially 
angry because in the roll it was said that the kin^ 
of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy the 
land. He despised the warning ; he heeded none 
of God's reproofs. A few years pass ; he is de- 
luded by the Egyptian party in his court and so he 
ventures to throw off the Chaldean yoke. Against 
this step Jeremiah earnestly remonstrated, but 
Jehoiakim violated his oath and hastened to his 
ruin. He would rather lavish the tribute on his 
own luxury and pride than pay it to the king of 
Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar, having taken Car- 
chemish, crossed the Euphrates and soon overran 
the whole of Palestine. Soon he was at the gates 
of Jerusalem ; and Jehoiakim was well-nigh pow- 
erless. He admitted Nebuchadnezzar into Jeru- 
salem under certain conditions ; and these condi- 
tions, with his usual fatuity, he immediately dis- 
regarded. Soon he was himself in chains to be 
carried a prisoner to Babylon. 

Alike in the history of Josephus and in various 
books of the Bible, much obscurity hangs over the 
story of his death. In 2 Kings 24 : 6, he is said to 
have slept with his fathers ; and in 2 Chron. 36 : 6, 
to have been put in chains to be carried to Babylon ; 
and in Jeremiah he is said to have had the burial of 
an ass. xALl the narratives can be grouped so as to 
show that on his submission he was reinstated on 



THE MUTILATED MESSAGE 103 

his throne and that three years afterward he en- 
deavored to throw off the yoke of Chaldea ; then 
he was for a time imprisoned, and finally this 
cruel and weak king was slain ; bnt whether by 
the hands of his subjects or by foreign foes it is 
not easy to determine. His body was thrown over 
the wall and exposed night and day, and after a 
time it was carried away and " buried with the 
burial of an ass." The differences in the individ- 
ual accounts are just such differences as you would 
expect in independent narrations. The sacred 
writers were God's penmen and not God's pens, 
and while there are substantial unity and inerrant 
truth, each tells his story in his own way, and 
brings out what impresses him most. The tem- 
ple was plundered and many noble young men, 
perhaps among them Daniel and the three known 
as the Hebrew children, were carried away into 
exile ; and here began the seventy years of painful 
exile. Thus Jehoiakim, the son of the godly 
and noble Josiah, died unwept and unsung, and 
was buried without pomp or lamentation, but 
with ignominy and detestation. 

Oh, the folly of opposing God ! Oh, the un- 
speakable guilt of lifting our puny arm against 
the Almighty ! Let men contend with men, but 
woe unto him who contends with his Maker ! 
Men and women, submit to-day to the pleading of 
God's love, to the entreaties of his grace, to the 
voice of his warnings. Submit to his gentle 
authority, and rejoice in his fatherly love. Trans- 



104 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

fer your allegiance from Satan to Christ, thus 
yielding your hearts to his love, which is gentler 
than a mother's, while his arm is mighty as God's. 
Will we not say ? 

Love, that will not let me go, 
I rest my weary soul in thee ; 

1 give thee back the life I owe, 
That in thine ocean depths its flow 

May richer, fuller be. 



VII 
THK POISONED POTTAGE 



■ ' So they poured out for the men to eat. And it came to 
pass, as they were eating of the pottage, that they cried out, 
and said, O thou man of God, there is death in the pot. And 
they could not eat thereof. ' ' 2 Kings 4 : 40. 



VII 

THIS text and its context bring Elisha before 
us in beautiful relations to young men and 
to the kingdom of God. He is presented to us 
as he moves among the sons of the prophets as a 
skillful teacher, a sincere friend, and an honored 
father. He is a pioneer in the department of the- 
ological instruction ; he is a forerunner of the pro- 
fessors and presidents in our modern theological 
seminaries. There never was a time in the church 
of God when it was not the duty of religious 
teachers to provide for the training of their suc- 
cessors. Similar obligations rest upon the minis- 
try of to-day. It is quite as much a part of our 
duty to assist in the training of young men for the 
ministry as it is to preach the gospel, or to perform 
any kind of pastoral work. The ministry is dere- 
lict in a part of its duty if it fails to pray and to 
labor that the I,ord may send forth young men as 
toilers in his vineyard. Every pastor should be in 
a sense a theological professor, and every church a 
theological seminary. Indeed, pastors and churches 
are such professors and theological seminaries for 
truth or error, whether they are conscious of the 
fact or not. Any man who listens for a score of 
years to an intelligent pastor ought to pass a good 
examination on Christian doctrine. 

107 



108 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Elisha, whose life was almost constant sunshine 
and benediction, never appears more appropriately 
in his true character than when he is giving in- 
struction to these young students of theology as a 
teacher, and when he is providing for their daily 
wants as a father. We learn from the connection 
that the time here mentioned was a period of 
dearth in the land. It is not at all improbable 
that it was the time of scarcity which is men- 
tioned in the first and second verses of the eighth 
chapter of this book. If so, then it was the time 
of famine regarding the coming of which Elisha 
gave information to the Shunammite woman. The 
famine of which he thus prophesied lasted for 
seven years. This woman followed the suggestion 
of Elisha and sojourned in the land of the Philis- 
tines for that period. The famine did not appar- 
ently reach that land, or at least it was not so 
serious there as in Israel. It was a much more 
severe famine, at least as far as its length was con- 
cerned, than that which occurred in the time of 
Elijah ; for that famine was but three and a half 
years, while this one, as we have seen, continued 
for seven years. This was a famine of bread ; 
but it was not, as was the former one, also a fam- 
ine of the word of God. 

We have two striking illustrations in the nar- 
rative of the care of the prophet concerning the 
food of the students who were under his care. 
Elisha was a broad man. His care for the physical 
wants of his students is worthy of all imitation. 



THE POISONED POTTAGE 109 

The true minister of Christ must be interested in 
all that concerns those over whom he is placed as 
a minister. Concerning no interest of the people 
can he afford to be indifferent. The sphere of the 
pulpit has greatly widened in these latter days. 
Whatever concerns men and women concerns the 
pulpit in which Christ is truly preached. He who 
preaches Christ rightly preaches the necessity of 
introducing the Christly spirit into all the rela- 
tions and duties of life. Twice our Lord fed the 
multitudes with the bread of this life ; but it is 
true that his ultimate purpose was to feed their 
souls with the bread which cometh down from 
heaven. His miracles have been called " the 
great bell before the sermon" to summon the 
people to listen to the words of life. The church 
of to-day must in like manner care for the phys- 
ical needs, and also meet the intellectual wants of 
the people, and thus the better prepare them to 
receive the gospel message. 

The two miracles performed in connection with 
the events here recorded concerned the sons of 
the prophets in their organized capacity. The 
first two miracles mentioned in this chapter, the 
increase of the oil and the restoration of the child 
of the Shunammite woman, referred to individual 
servants of God ; but the other two miracles, the 
removal of the poisonous element from the pot- 
tage and the increase of the loaves of barley, re- 
ferred to the entire body of the sons of the proph- 
ets. These two latter miracles join themselves 



IIO QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

appropriately to the two earlier recorded in this 
chapter. The two latter give us a charming in- 
side picture of the daily life and fraternal associ- 
ations of these students in the school of the proph- 
ets ; and they also greatly strengthen our faith in 
God, whose servant Blisha was, and who by the 
instrumentality of this servant showed his tender 
care for the physical wants as well as the spirit- 
ual necessities of these young men. 

We see that Elisha here transtorms a hurtful 
vegetable into healthful food. He was now at 
Gilgal. He had been there a short time before in 
company with Elijah, a little time previous to 
Elijah's ascension. Here, as we have seen, there 
was a school of the sons of the prophets. In their 
society Elisha took great pleasure ; he was alike 
their teacher in things spiritual and their provider 
and father in things temporal. Theological stu- 
dents, as a rule, need help in both these respects. 
Somehow, doubtless for wise purposes, God does 
not call many millionaires to be ministers of the 
gospel. The church still has to assist in making 
provision for the support of her young ministers. 
The nation does not think that she dishonors her- 
self by. providing schools, teachers, educational 
apparatus, appropriate uniforms and all other ex- 
penses for the students at West Point and Annap- 
olis ; and the students in these institutions do not 
feel that they have dishonored their manliness as 
candidates for military service by accepting the 
bountiful provision of the nation. Where the 



THE POISONED POTTAGE III 

nation gives ten dollars to help young soldiers, the 
church does not give even one dollar to train her 
young ministers ; and by accepting this ecclesias- 
tical pittance our theological students often sub- 
ject themselves to the harsh criticism of cold- 
hearted Christians. The church, however, must 
continue to act toward her young students the 
part which Klisha performed toward his in that 
early day. 

We see him now at one of the times when he 
was to give them lessons suited to their work. 
Studiously and affectionately they are gathered 
about their honored and beloved teacher. Un- 
fortunately the severe famine is still in the land. 
The wants of these students are very few ; and 
they are willing to make even unreasonable sacri- 
fices for the opportunity to study the truths of 
God as made known by the revered servant of 
God. But it is difficult for them to secure the 
supply for even their modest wants in this time 
of prolonged and severe famine. Their case is 
touching indeed. It appeals to our hearts as we 
read the story in this remote country and distant 
century. It touched the heart of Klisha. We see 
by the narrative that he commands his servant, 
who was probably Gehazi of subsequent memory, 
to " set on the great pot and seethe pottage for 
the sons of the prophets." A modest meal indeed 
these students of theology were to have as they 
feasted on their stewed pottage prepared in the 
great caldron. Again we are reminded of Elisha's 



112 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

tender care for the needs of trie body, while he was 
feeding the intellectual and spiritual natures of his 
students. The body is the Lord's, and as the 
Lord's servant he would care for all that belonged 
to his Master. Christ came not to save the soul 
as distinct from the body, but to save the entire 
man, body and soul, from sin and sorrow here and 
from suffering hereafter. He came to make body, 
soul, and spirit the willing servant of God on earth, 
and the joyous resident with God forever in 
heaven. 

It would seem that several of the students went 
out in the fields to gather herbs, vines, and gourds 
into their blankets, as the word means rather than 
laps, to be shredded for the pot, or caldron, of 
pottage. There was no meat in our sense of the 
word, and no mention is made of bread in con- 
nection with their food. One of the number who 
went out to gather herbs brought in by mistake 
some poisonous, or at least noxious, herb in his 
blanket. The nature of this herb perhaps it is 
needless for us to stop to discuss at length. It is 
supposed by many to have been coloquintida, the 
fruit of a plant of the same name. Its fruit is 
said to be about the size of a large orange. Some- 
times it is called the bitter apple, as both the seeds 
and the pulp are intensely bitter, Judiciously 
used it is valuable for its medicinal qualities, but 
it is ordinarily placed among vegetable poisons. 
Gathered thus carelessly, it was put into the pot 
along with the other herbs. The fires were lighted 



THK POISONKD POTTAGE 113 

and the process of stewing began and continued. 
Soon it was announced that the food was ready 
for the humble repast. No sooner had the pottage 
been tasted than the unusual bitterness startled 
the hungry students. The presence of this dan- 
gerous plant was thus discovered and at once the 
students cried out : a Oh, thou man of God, there 
is death in the pot." This was certainly a provi- 
dential discovery. 

We may pause a moment at this point in the 
story to emphasize some of the applications which 
the narrative here suggests. The table is still 
often a snare to usefulness, and not infrequently 
to life itself. Death still lurks in many a pot. 
The intoxicating cup has destroyed more lives 
than the sword. Intoxicating drink is still Satan's 
strongest ally among the children of men. Other 
evils have slain their thousands ; strong drink has 
slain its tens and hundreds of thousands. A great 
army of drunkards marches daily through the 
land on its way to dishonored graves. It is ac- 
companied in its march to the tomb by bruised 
lives and breaking hearts ; it is a sight which 
well-nigh breaks the hearts of all thoughtful 
observers. We license men to recruit victims for 
this heart-breaking and often heart-broken army ; 
we trifle with the tippling which so often sows the 
seeds of which drunkenness, in all its horrid de- 
bauchery, is the ripened fruit. Oh, that God 
would give us some Blisha to take the poison out 
of this pot ! Oh, that God would make us wise 



114 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

in the example we set, in the instruction we give, 
and in the laws we enact, so that this army beat- 
ing "funeral marches to the grave" may no longer 
be recruited, aud that this gigantic evil may be 
banished from our land. 

There is also many an intellectual pot in which 
there is death to all that is noblest and loftiest in 
life. The mind, as truly as the heart, was made 
for God, and only as the intellect is inspired by 
and consecrated to God does it reach its loftiest 
possibilities. The plant of skepticism and the 
weed of atheism have poisoned every pot into 
which they have been cast. They have robbed 
life of its noblest inspiration, death of its sublime 
support, and eternity of its immortal hope. The 
man who puts these plants into the pot of life is 
the enemy of the republic, the enemy of the race, 
and the enemy of his God. Truth is the soul's 
heavenly food ; feeding on error the soul weakens, 
sickens, and dies. Truth, in the end, must triumph 
over every form of error ; truth assuredly shall 
eventually come down from the cross and shall 
ascend the throne. But in the meantime the 
poisonous plants of error and sin will find their 
victims among our noblest youth, and will hold 
as slaves some men and women whose pens are 
facile, and whose tongues are eloquent. God in 
heaven, make the day of truth's triumph to come 
speedily, and make that triumph complete 
throughout the world. 

There is sometimes death in the ecclesiastical 



THE POISONED POTTAGE 115 

pot. This pot, as stewed in some theological 
seminaries and Christian pulpits, is a strange 
mixture of herbs of criticism, vines of fancy, and 
gourds of skepticism. When men preach a gospel 
which is not a gospel, when they put human 
opinion in the place of divine revelation, when 
they give us their own fancy instead of God's 
truth, they offer to dying men a pot in which 
there is the seed of death, not the bread of life. 
When men give us "eisegesis," which is putting 
into the Bible their own wish, instead of exegesis, 
which is getting out of the Bible God's thought 
as there divinely written, they put death into their 
theological pot. When men strive to be wise 
above what is written, they usually end by being 
ignorant below what is written. When men take 
away our Lord from their preaching, they take 
away our hope, our joy, our life, our all. Some 
time ago, pinned to the pulpit cushion of a 
scholarly but technical, theological, cold-hearted, 
and unsympathetic preacher, was a piece of paper 
on which were written the words: "They have 
taken away my Lord, and I know not where they 
have laid him." The words went straight to the 
heart of the preacher as he took up the piece of 
paper. They led him to thoughtfulness and 
prayerfulness ; they induced him to preach Christ 
and him crucified as never before in his ministry. 
His whole soul glowed with the new life which 
he had received, and his sermons exalted Christ 
in all the tenderness of his love as the only hope 



Il6 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

of lost men and women. Entering his pulpit 
some time after he found another slip of paper on 
which were the words : " Then were the disciples 
glad when they saw the Lord." All disciples of 
Christ are glad when they see their Lord and 
Master. No preacher can deeply, truly, and per- 
manently touch the hearts of men in their varied 
experiences, in their longings for light and life, 
in their disappointments with themselves and the 
world, except he lift up Christ before their weary 
hearts. The old gospel has not lost its power. 
An uplifted Christ is still the mightiest magnet 
to draw men from self and sin to holiness and 
heaven. Christ's words: "And I, if I be lifted 
up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," 
are as true to-day as when he uttered them while 
entering the shadows of the garden and the cross. 
If Christ were thus tenderly, lovingly, triumph- 
antly, and constantly lifted up in the pulpit, men, 
women, and children would oftener be drawn to 
the pews, and eventually be drawn to the feet and 
to the heart of this exalted Christ. 

In the narrative before us we see that Elisha 
was equal to the emergency. Men who have God 
on their side can do all which the providence of 
God may require at their hands. Such men are 
never wholly at a loss under any circumstances. 
" Bring meal," said Elisha. The meal is brought. 
He casts it into the stew in the pot ; then he said, 
"Pour out for the people that they may eat." 
They poured out ; the people ate ; and there was 



THE POISONED POTTAGE 117 

no harm in the pot. On a former occasion he 
healed the bitter waters with salt ; now he heals 
the bitter herbs with meal. The meal, doubtless, 
was only the sign of healthful food, and Elisha 
only the channel through which God wrought. 

From this quaint narrative we may learn some 
additional lessons. L,et us guard against death in 
the pot. God makes every sin a proof of its own 
bitterness and folly, as he makes every sense in 
the body a sentinel against danger. Pain is the 
servant of the body in communicating the pres- 
ence of evil and danger. It telegraphs at once to 
the brain that an enemy to the body is present 
and active. God has so placed the mouth and 
the nose as to guard against the eating and drink- 
ing of poison. He has been equally careful re- 
garding the entrance of moral evil. He forbids 
nothing which our own highest nature does not 
also forbid ; and he commands nothing which our 
instructed moral faculties do not fully endorse. Sin 
is moral insanity. It is marvelous that men and 
women should so willingly become the dupes of 
Satan. There is moral death in many of the prep- 
arations offered for our moral natures. We must 
be quick to detect the presence of the poison in 
whatever capsule of fair appearance or smooth 
speech it is presented. 

A second lesson is that we should recognize God 
as the fountain of all life and blessing. He it is 
who always healeth us. Jehovah-Rophe, I am 
the L,ord that heareth thee, was the name given 



Il8 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

by God to Israel at the bitter waters of Marah. 
He it is who always takes death out of the pot, 
and keeps us in life and health. Do you recog- 
nize him in all your ways ? Did you, at least in 
your heart, recognize him in your food to-day ? 
Have you bowed the knee to him as the giver of 
every good and perfect gift ? Is God thought to 
be good in all the events of life? When we see 
God in all our relations, life is exalted, purified, 
and divinized ; the whole world becomes Christ's 
school for our training in Christly character. 
Earth becomes a foretaste of heaven when Christ 
alone rules over the life. Happy is that home, and 
blessed is that heart where God is thus recognized. 
He is then seen to be the dispenser of every good, 
the sanctifier of every sorrow and cross, and the 
glorifier of every earthly experience however 
checkered. Back of every blessing which bright- 
ens and beautifies our life is God. Back of all 
the allotments of our earthly experience is God as 
the ordainer of our sorrows as truly as our joys. 
May he enable us to recognize his hand and to 
bow submissively to the appointments of his 
divine w T ill. 

Lastly, remember that only his grace can turn 
human bitterness into divine sweetness. He alone 
can change the bitterness of Marah into waters of 
sweetness. Sin cherished is unspeakable bitter- 
ness ; sin forgiven leads to an experience of divine 
sweetness in the soul. Sorrow unsanctified is bit- 
terness unqualified ; sorrow submissively accepted 



THE POISONED POTTAGE 119 

is joy unlimited. Jesus Christ is the true Blisha. 
Let him to-day come into the soul that the poison 
of life may be removed and the bitterness of 
earthly experience be transformed into the sweet- 
ness and blessedness of heaven even now. We have 
put heaven too far away. More and more ought 
we to emphasize the possibility of having heaven 
here and now. The Apostle John addresses us as' 
the sons of God while we are upon the earth. 
The whole aim of Christianity, when understood 
in its full and truest meaning, is to give us much 
of heaven during our earthly life. Our Lord 
taught us to pray "Thy kingdom come." The 
answer to this prayer is certainly that the king- 
dom of God should be established upon this earth. 
The entire aim of the church should be the reali- 
zation of that prayer in the introduction and es- 
tablishment of this kingdom. Indeed, we can 
never enter heaven there and then, except heaven 
enter us here and now. The church has lost 
power by neglecting, to so great a degree, the 
teaching of this truth. We have filled men's 
minds with a dreamy conception of heaven at 
some remote time and in some distant sphere ; we 
ought rather to show that heaven is really the full 
fruition of religious principles operating in our 
characters while we are upon the earth. A simi- 
lar law applies to hell as to heaven. Men go 
into perdition at the last because they are partially 
in perdition now, and perdition is partially in them 
here and now. Only as the grace of God comes 



120 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

into the heart to drive out the bitterness and 
poison of earth's noxious plants and so transform 
the soul into the image of Christ, can we expect 
to see Christ at the last and be like him and dwell 
forever with him. May God give us foretastes of 
this life here and now ! 



VIII 
THE BED AND ITS COVERING 



' ' For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself 
on it : and the covering narrower than that he can wrap 
himself in it." Isa. 28 : 20. 



VIII 

THE context shows us that at this time 
there were those who made a jest of the 
judgments of God. Some of these jesters were 
the magistrates who ruled in Jerusalem ; they 
were scorners of the truth of God. They chal- 
lenged the Almighty to do his worst, and they 
practically affirmed that they had made a cove- 
nant with death and hell. These rulers of Jeru- 
salem thought that they were wonderfully skill- 
ful politicians, and that they would outwit their 
foes. But God teaches them the folly of their 
false security. He affirms that the time is com- 
ing when judgment will be laid to the line and 
righteousness to the plummet ; that the hail will 
sweep away the refuge of lies, and that the waters 
shall overflow their hiding place. Then comes in 
the narrative the " washed" or proverbial saying, 
which forms the text. 

The picture here presented excites our pity, and 
also our sense of the ludicrous. Those who 
sought protection in idols, in the promises of false 
prophets, and in the promised aid from Egypt, 
would be like a man who, while seeking repose, 
lies down at night on a bed that is too short and 
under a covering that is too narrow. When he 
would stretch, his feet extend beyond the bed ; if 

123 



124 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

he finds support for his feet, his head and shoul- 
ders are beyond the limits of the bed at the other 
extremity ; the covering is so scanty that it will 
not protect him from the chill of the night. 

The world is, in some sense, a great dormitory or 
hospital. Passing through the wards we see beds 
on either side on which men are vainly striving 
to find security and repose. L,et us look at some 
of these beds. 

The first is the bed of Atheism. This bed ex- 
cites our pity ; it almost justifies our contempt. 
It is short, narrow, hard, and lumpy. Any man 
of average size endeavoring to stretch himself 
upon it, will find that either his feet or his head 
must be without due support. Its covering is as 
much too narrow as the bed itself is too short. 
The question has often been asked as to whether 
atheism is possible on the part of intelligent hu- 
man beings ; whether it deserves the dignity of 
discussion in a modern pulpit. Atheism in itself 
is purely negative. It affirms nothing ; it is noth- 
ing. It simply denies what the true doctrine of 
God affirms ; it is difficult to deal with a mere 
negative. To prove theism is to disprove atheism. 
.Many men whom the Christian world has united 
in calling atheists have rejected the term as one of 
reproach. They were unwilling to have the title 
associated with their names. Hume indignantly 
repudiated it ; so do many men of to-day who in 
popular esteem are atheists. But they make the 
word of God synonymous with an active prin- 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING 125 

ciple in nature ; they say " motion is God." But 
the definition of God, which men of this class 
give, Christian men cannot accept. To say that 
a man believes in God is to say that he believes 
in a self-conscious and personal being. A man 
who simply believes in motion, in force, in order, 
cannot, strictly speaking, be said to believe in 
God. Atheism is contrary to the deepest intui- 
tions of our nature. A man may, indeed, by 
wickedness, or even by speculation, bring himself 
into a state of mind and heart so that he may be- 
come, in some sense, an atheist. A man may, in- 
deed, reach a state in which he doubts his own 
individuality ; but such a condition is unnatural, 
and must be only temporary. It would seem as if 
all men have some knowledge of God, that knowl- 
edge varying according to their circumstances 
and character. This knowledge of God seems 
to be innate. Atheism is abnormal and sensual. 
Atheism is a gigantic fraud ; it is an immeasur- 
able failure. It destroys the noblest aspirations 
of the soul. It robs men of kinship with God ; 
it unites them hopelessly with the beasts that 
perish. It clips the wings of genius, stays the 
hand of art, and silences the voice of poetry. 

It may be doubted whether there is an intellect- 
ual atheist in the universe ; but practical athe- 
ism is as common as it is sad. Many men live as 
if there were no God. They live on God's bounty 
and never recognize his goodness. They eat and 
drink, sleep and work, forgetting the God in 



126 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

whose hand their breath is, and whose are all 
their ways. Atheism lacks the spirit of self-sac- 
rifice ; it has no inherent vitality ; it has no real 
aggressive endeavor. It builds no hospitals ; 
founds no asylums ; endows no institutions of 
learning. It is doomed to defeat, and it will re- 
ceive in all the years to come the contempt of the 
living, enterprising, and achieving men of the hour. 
Atheism is also unscientific. Who dares affirm 
that there is no God ? If we affirm a designer for 
a watch when we see evidences of design in the 
watch, who shall dare deny the existence of a de- 
signer in the presence of evidences of design in the 
great universe of God ? Is there a bud or flower, a 
star, moon, or sun ? Is there a force or atom, however 
minute, however beyond human vision or power 
to analyze, in which God is not? The intellect 
of the world to-day is against atheism. The most 
cultivated minds and the most consecrated hearts 
find their highest joy in bringing their treasures 
of intellect and their gifts of love, and laying 
them at the pierced feet of the Lord's Christ. 
Atheism belongs to the dark ages of the human 
intellect. Doubt is the gray dawn of the morn- 
ing ; faith is the full splendor of the noonday sun. 
Oh, men and women, leave that bed on which you 
are trying vainly to find repose! Even devils 
have a kind of faith in God ; a faith which at 
least makes them tremble. Leave this bed of 
atheism lest it be transformed at the last into a 
bed of eternal perdition. 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING 127 

The next bed on which, our eyes rest is the bed 
of Agnosticism, This bed is in the vicinity of 
the bed of atheism. There is a skepticism which 
is commendable, a skepticism which is seeking 
after truth with a sincere desire to embrace it as 
soon as it is found. There may be also a species 
of agnosticism which is free from censure; but 
the type which we commonly meet is censurable 
to the last degree. When a man of a certain type 
says, "I know almost nothing about anything," 
we may be sure that he means, i ' I know quite 
everything about everything. " There is a blessed 
knowledge of God and truth everywhere men- 
tioned in the Bible with commendation. We love 
to hear Job say " I know " ; to hear Paul ring out 
" I know " ; and to hear John sweetly affirm u we 
know." Over against this blessed assurance, this 
experimental gnosticism, are the " perhapses," the 
" perad ventures," and the " don't knows " of the 
professional agnostic. He tells us that there is so 
much mystery in the Bible that he cannot under- 
stand it. Doubtless there are mysterious depths 
in this divine revelation. There are more mys- 
teries in the Bible than are known to the average 
agnostic. Wherever the finite mind comes into 
contact with the infinite mind insoluble problems 
emerge. We now see through a glass darkly ; we 
now know only in part ; we now see Jesus, not as 
he is in all his fullness, but as we are in all our 
weakness and emptiness. If God gave us a reve- 
lation which we could fully understand at every 



128 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

point, we might doubt that it was a revelation 
from God. A Bible without mystery would be 
more mysterious than the Bible God has given. 
If we could know God fully we would exhaust 
God eventually. Mysteries are not limited to the 
revelations of the Bible ; the book of nature is as 
mysterious as the book of grace. The infinitely 
small is as mysterious as the infinitely great The 
microscope, as truly as the telescope, opens to us a 
world of wonders. Theology is quite as exact a 
science as any of the natural u ologies," regarding 
whose exactness scientists have been wont to 
affirm. 

If science is proving anything in these later 
days it is that scientists of other days were often 
utterly unscientific. A new substance has re- 
cently been discovered in the atmosphere. New 
wonders of nature are constantly appearing. 
Shall men refuse to believe in the laws of gravi- 
tation and in the applications of electricity be- 
cause certain elements of both are undiscovered 
and at present undiscoverable? It is astounding 
that men should be wise in all secular matters and 
absolutely inane in all religious concerns. Is it 
true to say that the Bible is a collection of mys- 
teries ? Does it not abound in plain precept, plain 
promise, plain doctrine, plain threatening ? Could 
anything be plainer than these words, l< Except ye 
repent, ye shall all likewise perish ? " Could lan- 
guage be more simple and solemn than this state- 
ment, " He that believe th not shall be damned? " 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING 1 29 

Why should God give men a fuller revelation if 
they will not walk in the light of the truths they 
do understand ? When men come to me asking 
for explanations of some abstruse doctrine, I ask 
them if they have obeyed the commands affecting 
their personal religious life which they understand 
without a single element of doubt. We cannot 
expect God to give us light far ahead in our path 
if we refuse to walk in the light we have. 
Nothing is plainer than the truths of revelation 
which affect personal duty, personal character, and 
personal salvation. This bed of agnosticism emits 
poisonous odors which induce a dangerous sleep. 
It abounds in narcotics whose power may lull to 
repose until the sleeper awakes to realize that he 
has sinned away his day of grace, and has entered 
upon a night without a morning, and an expe- 
rience without God and without hope. 

Another bed is Election. This bed in the 
world's dormitory is not so common as it was a 
generation ago ; but occasionally we find some 
unhappy man trying to find repose on this short 
bed and protection under this narrow covering. 
When spoken to he will say, " If I am elected, I 
shall be saved, do what I will ; if I am not elected, 
I cannot be saved, do what I may." It is simply 
astounding that sensible men will so think and 
speak. Their language involves an absolute ab- 
surdity. Men do not so speak in regard to the 
affairs of this life. They do not say when igno- 
rant that they shall become learned whether they 



130 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

study or not ; they do not say, if we are to go to 
Europe we shall go, whether or not we go on 
board of an ocean steamer. We never suppose in 
human affairs that an event can be accomplished 
apart from the means by which its accomplish- 
ment is possible. But in matters of religion men 
seem to lay aside all common sense. 

There are, we readily admit, difficulties grow- 
ing out of the relation between human freedom 
on the one side, and divine sovereignty on the 
other. We are free, and we know the fact ; God 
is a sovereign, and we know that fact. Reconcile 
these two truths we cannot; believe them we 
must. Human freedom is a column ascending 
before our sight until it is lost in the clouds above 
us ; divine sovereignty is another column ascending 
before us until it also is lost in the clouds above 
us. Somewhere above these clouds these columns 
meet to form a perfect arch. Election is not a 
doctrine for the guidance of sinners ; it is a doc- 
trine for the comfort of saints. We know, in- 
deed, that no man can go to Christ except the 
Father draw him ; and we know also that the 
Father is constantly drawing men to Christ. Not 
more certain is it that the law of physical gravita- 
tion affects the physical universe than that the 
law of moral gravitation affects all moral beings. 
The great practical question for us is, are we candi- 
dates for election ? No man can know that he is 
elected by God until God is elected by him. No 
man can look over God's shoulder to see whether 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING I3I 

his own name is written in trie Book of L,ife ; but 
he can elect to believe God, and then he shall 
sweetly know that G-od has elected him. He is to 
strive to make his calling and his election sure. If 
a man will lie upon that bed, refusing to receive 
Jesus Christ as his Saviour, refusing to elect salva- 
tion, he will by that very act elect perdition. God 
help us to avoid such unspeakable folly and such 
unpardonable guilt ! Arouse thyself, O man, from 
the ansesthesis of this perverted and so perverse 
doctrine of election. God is calling thee now ; 
awake from sleep, arise from this bed and be 
saved with an everlasting salvation. 

Another bed we may call Inconsistency. This 
bed also is short and its covering is narrow. We 
often hear from ungodly men, of the pharisees 
who are in the church ; it ought to be understood 
that the number who are outside of the church is 
unspeakably greater than the number inside of 
the church. These critics tell us that professors 
of religion are no better than are men of the 
world. If their statement is true, these professed 
Christians are not genuine Christians. But these 
statements are not true. Christ once said of his 
people, " Ye are the light of the world " ; thank 
God, that light has not gone out. He once said 
of them, ' k Ye are the salt of the earth ' ' ; thank 
God, that salt has not lost its savor. That light 
will never go out ; that salt will never become 
saltless. 

The best men and the noblest women to-day in 



132 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

God's universe are members of Christ's church. 
But for their presence on the earth, the very earth 
might long ago have been destroyed. God pre- 
serves cities now as in the earlier days, because of 
the righteous men and women who are citizens 
therein. It is time that plain words were spoken 
regarding the sins of professed Christians ; but it 
is also time that equally plain words were spoken 
regarding the phariseeism of worldly men, who 
bring unjust accusations against Christians. Like 
the typical Pharisee whose picture Christ painted, 
these men thank God that they are not as other 
men are. They are utterly puffed up with self- 
conceit ; they would despise themselves if they 
saw themselves as others see them. The Pharisee 
in the parable did not really pray ; he simply de- 
livered a self-congratulatory oration before God. 
Thus do Pharisees of modern times ; they exalt 
themselves and despise all other men. Their bed 
is extremely short, and on it they can find no 
comfort. 

But granting that all which they affirm is true, 
granting that all church-members are hypo- 
crites, the doctrines of the Bible are not any the less 
true and authoritative ; its promises are none the 
less encouraging, and its threatenings none the 
less alarming. Do these men expect to be saved 
because of the inconsistency of church-members ? 
Do they expect that the sins of others shall justify 
them at the judgment seat of Christ ? Was there 
ever such folly ? Was there ever such perfect inane- 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING 1 33 

ness ? Have such men no common sense ? Do they 
not know that they could not be justified before 
God by the goodness of others ? How then can they 
be justified before God by the badness of others? 
If other men are inconsistent, to their own Master 
they must stand or fall. If these men are en- 
deavoring to find a refuge behind the inconsis- 
tency of Christians, they will discover at the last 
that it is but a refuge of lies. As God liveth, he 
will lay judgment to the line and righteousness to 
the plummet. As Christ is enthroned, it will cer- 
tainly come to pass that the hail shall sweep away 
their refuge of lies, and that the waters shall 
overflow them in their bed of inconsistency. 

As we move on we find the bed of Self-right- 
eousness. Unfortunately beds which should bear 
this title abound in the world's dormitory. Men 
are constantly saying, " Why, what harm have 
we done ? " They are constantly affirming that 
they have injured no one, that they are not covet- 
ous, not profane, and not drunken. On every 
side we hear them say that they pay their just 
debts, are kind to the poor, and are benevolent 
toward the charities of the hour. Grant that all 
their statements are true ; these things they ought 
to do and be. Will they claim credit for simply 
doing what every consideration of justice and hu- 
manity would incline them to do ? They forget 
that they have failed to love the L,ord Jesus 
Christ ; that they have despised him who died for 
them on the cross ; that they have trampled upon 

M 



134 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

his precious blood as an unholy thing ; and that 
they have grieved the Holy Spirit and walked in 
their own ways. It is marvelous that men should 
speak of themselves and of God as they do. 
Their self-righteousness has inflated their good- 
ness in their own judgment beyond all reasonable 
dimensions. If men could be saved apart from 
Jesus Christ, his cross was a gigantic blunder or 
an unpardonable crime. As well might a man 
attempt to lean on his own shadow for support as 
to rest upon his own righteousness as a ground of 
salvation. We must not try to stitch the rags of 
our righteousness on the finished and spotless robe 
of Christ's righteousness. 

Men who attempt to justify themselves show 
that they know nothing of their own sinful nature, 
and nothing of God's immaculate holiness. 
These men tell us that God is too merciful to 
punish sinners. We know that God is more mer- 
ciful than language can express, or thought con- 
ceive ; but his mercy is manifested along the line 
of the provision which he has made for our sal- 
vation. If we reject the offers of his mercy we 
may expect that he will whet his sword and that 
his hand will take hold on justice. We are told 
that Phidias, the great sculptor, made a statue of 
the goddess Diana for the Athenians. This work 
was his masterpiece. It so charmed him that he 
desired that by means of it his name should go 
down to posterity ; he therefore, engraved his 
name in one of the folds of the drapery. But 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING 1 35 

when the Athenians discovered that the sculptor 
had associated his name with the sanctity of their 
goddess, they indignantly banished him from 
their country. Oh, men and women, dare not 
associate your righteousness with that of Jesus 
Christ, the spotless Lamb of God. Leave this 
bed ! It is too short. Discard the coverlet ; it is 
too narrow. Through it the piercing eye of jus- 
tice will discover your unforgiven sin, your stained 
soul, and your corrupt heart. Confess your sin, 
and you will find that God is gracious to forgive 
your sins and to cleanse you from all unright- 
eousness. 

Before we reach the end of the ward there is 
one more bed which we must notice — the bed of 
Procrastination. Beds bearing this name are 
sadly numerous. The whole atmosphere in the 
vicinity of these beds is filled with a most deadly 
opiate. It destroys all sensibility. It is more 
powerful than ether, than chloroform, or any other 
anaesthetic. Many have slept on this bed until 
life with all its opportunities have passed. They 
will admit that religion is extremely important, 
and that they are determined at some time to give 
it due attention ; but they will also tell you that 
it is not their purpose to give it attention to-day. 
They will not promise you that they will do so in 
a week or a month. They are willing to risk the 
loss of their souls, rather than seek Christ accord- 
ing to his command, to-day. They affirm that 
they must wait God's time. They forget that God 



136 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

has said, " Now is the accepted time ; behold now 
is the day of salvation." They forget that God 
has said, " Choose ye this day whom ye will 
serve." My heart aches as I look upon these 
beds, and on every bed a drugged body and an en- 
dangered soul. One would think that these men 
had made a covenant with death and with hell. 
They are like those of whom the prophet has 
spoken in connection with my text. Can nothing 
arouse them to listen to the voice of God to-day ? 
Can nothing prevent them from grieving the Holy 
Ghost? They forget that God has said, Ki To-day 
if ye will hear his voice harden not your hearts." 
You know, men and women, that your hearts 
are harder than once they were ; you know that 
you are becoming insensible to the voice of God in 
providences, in revelations, and in direct addresses 
of the Divine Spirit. For a quarter of a century 
I have preached to some of you, and you are still 
strangers to Jesus Christ. I am unspeakably 
humbled in your presence ; you treat me vastly 
better than you treat my Lord and Master. You 
have an open hand, an open home, and an open 
heart for me, the servant ; but hand and home 
and heart are closed against him, the Master. I 
would that I could arouse you to-day as never be- 
fore. May God Almighty, even if it be by the 
earthquake of his power, shake you from this bed 
of procrastination ! You are putting faith in to- 
morrow, rather than in Jesus Christ. You are 
risking your immortal soul rather than do your 



THE BED AND ITS COVERING 1 37 

duty in seeking salvation to-day. Remember the 
Spanish proverb which says, " The road of By- 
and-By, leads to the town of Never." We are told 
that at the critical moment of the night in the 
year 1741, when Count Lestocq went to conduct 
the Princess Elizabeth of Russia to the palace, 
that she might affirm her right to the vacant 
throne, he found her irresolute. He drew forth, 
it is said, two pictures which he had caused to be 
prepared should she refuse at once to follow his 
direction. In one picture she saw herself under 
the torture and the count on a scaffold. In the 
other picture she beheld herself ascending the 
throne amid the applause of the people. Hold- 
ing these two pictures before her, he commanded 
her to make a choice. She chose the throne, and 
on the morrow was welcomed as the Empress of 
all the Russias. 

Before you to-day I would place two pictures. 
In the one you may see yourselves rising from the 
bed of procrastination to stand before the great 
white throne on the left hand of the Judge. So 
standing, you will solemnly hear him say in 
words almost too sad for human utterance, but 
words spoken by himself, " Depart from me, ye 
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil 
and his angels." In the other picture you may 
see yourselves standing on the right hand of the 
King, and hearing him say, u Come, ye blessed 
of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for 
you from the foundation of the world." Arise, 



I38 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

oh men and women, from your beds of atheism, 
agnosticism, election, inconsistency, self-right- 
eousness, and procrastination. Jesus calls you now 
to his own blessed feet. Trusting him, you may 
lie down at the night of each day, and at the 
night of life, on a bed softer than down, to be 
covered by the robe of his spotless righteousness, 
in which not even the eye of infinite justice shall 
find stain or flaw. 



IX 
THE SWIMMING IRON 



And the iron did swim.** 2 Kings 6 : 6. 



IX 

THIS text forms a part of an interesting story 
of simple life and primitive employment. 
Elisha had now become a popular theological 
professor. So large was the number of his stu- 
dents that they were obliged to say, " Behold 
now, the place where we dwell with thee is too 
strait for us." The dishonesty of Gehazi was dis- 
covered a little time before and was severely pun- 
ished. This discovery and punishment seemed to 
have added to the popularity of the school. It is 
not at all unlikely that some of the students may 
have suffered from Gehazi's unholy desire for 
gain, before his dishonesty was discovered in the 
case of the generous Naaman. We do not know 
whether the place in which the students met was 
Gilgal or Bethel ; and some think that it was 
Jericho. 

But although their abode had become too strait 
for them they had no thought of abandoning their 
studies or forsaking their teachers. They were 
determined to enlarge the place of their habita- 
tion, and with that thought in mind they removed 
to some location in the immediate vicinity of the 
Jordan. The plan was that each student should 
cut down a post, beam, pillar, rafter, or some other 
part of the simple house which they proposed to 

141 



142 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

erect. By their united labors in this way a more 
commodious dwelling place could be speedily and 
inexpensively secured. These young men were 
ready to help themselves in this practical way. 
They therefore selected some quiet spot, which 
perhaps may already have been sacred in the his- 
tory of Israel ; perhaps it was the place where 
Elijah and Klisha some time before crossed the 
Jordan ; or perhaps it was where Joshua and the 
priests with the ark saw Jordan's swollen floods 
held back by the invisible hand of the Almighty. 
These students did not wish to engage in this 
work without the presence and benediction of 
Elisha. No doubt his presence was desired, not 
so much to direct the work as to encourage the 
workmen. Klisha therefore cheerfully accom- 
panied his earnest students. 

Soon the Jordan was reached. With brave 
hearts and vigorous hands they began felling the 
trees which formed a thickly growing belt down 
close to the water's edge. We are told that wil- 
lows, poplars, and tamarisks here grow in abund- 
ance. Soon the blows of the axes resounded 
through the woods ; soon the trees fell apace, and 
soon the chips flew in all directions. Brave- 
hearted and stout-armed students were these! 
They did not need exercise in playing baseball, foot- 
ball, or any other form of gymnastics. They com- 
bined useful labor with needful exercise. Over- 
hanging the stream is a tree which it is desirable 
to secure. In size and shape it is probably just 



THE SWIMMING IRON 143 

what they needed for some part of the pro- 
posed building. But while felling this tree one 
of the young men struck a strong blow and 
the axe flew from its handle and sank in the 
stream of turbid water. He may have been to 
blame in not noticing that it was loose on its 
helve, but in his earnest work he had no thought 
of possible danger. His distress was all the 
greater because he was obliged to say, " Alas, 
master, for it was borrowed." He was an honest 
man and desired to return a borrowed axe ; per- 
haps he was sufficiently honest to return even a 
borrowed umbrella. He was probably also a poor 
man, and it is not unlikely that the owner of the 
axe was as poor as himself. Klisha was not in- 
different to the cry of need in temporal as well as 
in spiritual affairs, and soon he was at the man's 
side. We see him in his consciousness of power. 
He breaks off a stick and casts it into the water 
where it is shown him that the axe sank, and 
soon, to the surprise and delight of all, the iron 
appears floating on the surface, so that the histo- 
rian rightly says, "the iron did swim." We are 
not to suppose that the stick was more than a 
sign which the prophet chose to use to suggest 
the higher power employed. Human instrumen- 
tality was conjoined with divine miraculousness. 
Divine and human power are ever associated in 
temporal and spiritual work. The young man is 
commanded to "Take it up to thee," and we read, 
" He put out his hand and took it." 



144 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

This story of the ancient time is full of lessons 
for modern life and duty. It would be easy to 
point out several of these lessons regarding varied 
human relations. But on this occasion I desire to 
direct your thought to one great truth : the duty 
and possibility of making iron swim. We often 
are called upon to do what is impossible to our 
unaided strength. We are always to remember 
when impossible tasks are assigned us that God's 
help may be secured, and with his help all things 
are possible. There are times when it is true that 
duty is not measured by ability. We are often 
called upon to do what we cannot do ; we are to 
perform the impossible, to achieve the unachiev- 
able ; we are, in a word, to make the iron swim. 
How could the disciples with their five barley 
loaves and two small fishes feed thousands of hun- 
gry men, women, and children ? Judged by all 
ordinary rules we might say that it was abso- 
lutely impossible for them to do this. Yet Christ 
said, ' ' Give ye them to eat. " We must remember 
that with the command went the divine power 
which made the accomplishment possible. 
Quaintly has this thought been thus expressed, 
" All God's biddings are enablings." In all rela- 
tions in life we are at times commanded to per- 
form tasks quite beyond our unaided strength. 
Triumphantly does the matchless Paul exclaim, 
" I can do all things through Christ which 
strengtheneth me." This statement explains the 
secret of the divine commandment and of the hu- 



THE SWIMMING IRON 1 45 

man accomplishment In the light of this great 
truth there are really no impossible tasks. It has 
been well said that, " a precept of impossibility 
is a promise of omnipotent help." 

This same principle is illustrated in the history 
of the church. God often gives his church im- 
possible tasks. He then gives her heroic faith 
and divine help. An impossible task was given 
to Abraham when he left his ancestral home not 
knowing whither he went. To Moses was as- 
signed the task of bringing the axe-head of a 
nation out of the dark waters of Egyptian slavery. 
No wonder he shrank from the apparently impos- 
sible task. What was the opening of a path 
through the Red Sea but making the iron swim? 
The rod of Moses is outstretched, the power of 
God comes down and the waters stand up in crys- 
tal walls on either side. Again the iron did 
swim. How shall water be found in a waterless 
land, or food in a desert, where there is none? 
The heavens are opened and manna falls ; the rock 
is struck and water gushes forth. God and Moses 
made the iron to swim. Behold Israel gathered 
at the Jordan. See the priests who are bearing 
the ark touch the waters with their feet ; soon the 
waters divide, and Israel passeth through dry- 
shod. Behold impregnable Jericho ! But see her 
now with her walls flat and Israel passing victo- 
riously into the city. The men of Jericho may 
sneer while the men of Israel march in silence 
around her walls, but when God touches the 



I46 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

walls they fall, and Israel passes over and enters 
the city in triumph. 

Similar are the events in the history of God's 
church all through the ages. David, with God's 
help, makes the iron swim. So do Isaiah, 
Daniel, and other brave Hebrew heroes and 
prophets. Christ and his apostles make the iron 
swim. Was ever folly greater than to attempt to 
convert the world with twelve men, without arms, 
without learning, without wealth, without social 
influence? But they had on their side God and 
truth. Away they went over the rocky hills of 
Palestine ; away they went over the sparkling 
waters of the ^Bgean, whose islands became step- 
ping-stones for the feet of the " sacramental host 
of God's elect." With the cross they battered 
down the walls of pagan religions and supersti- 
tions. They destroyed philosophies and immo- 
ralities hoary with age and venerable in tradition. 
They changed the poetry and the art, the archi- 
tecture and the civilization of the world ; they 
created a new world and changed the trend of 
eternity. They found the axe of humanity deep 
in the stream of selfishness and sin, sunken in the 
nameless corruptions of heathenism, and they put 
it on the helve of a nobler civilization in the 
hands of a heaven-born church. The great Refor- 
mations under Luther and Latimer and under 
Wesley and Whitfield, again and again made the 
iron swim. Judson and Carey and hundreds of 
other missionaries in India, Burma, China, Japan, 



THK SWIMMING IRON 147 

Africa, and other lands of heathen darkness have 
made the iron swim. It is gloriously swimming 
to-day. 

The church of Jesus Christ is the product of 
the highest wisdom of the Triune God, and it is 
also the glory of humanity. It is the hope of the 
world, and it is the inspiration of eternity. What 
has infidelity to show in comparison with Chris- 
tianity ? What axe-head can infidelity lift from 
the turbid and corrupt stream of life ? What col- 
leges has infidelity built and endowed? What 
hospitals has infidelity founded ? What orphan- 
ages has infidelity erected ? Infidelity is a gigan- 
tic failure ; it is an amazing blunder ; it is a des- 
picable imposition. It lacks self-consecration, 
and all forms of practical helpfulness. It merits 
the contempt of all large-hearted and noble souls. 
It leaves the helve and the axe of humanity dis- 
joined. It leaves the race helpless in its blank 
despair. The stream flows on and men stand with 
the useless helve in their hand, while infidelity 
has no power either to dry up the stream or to 
bring up the axe. Only the power of God can 
put axe and helve together and fit the race to per- 
form its divinely appointed mission. 

The truth finds its illustration in the history of 
our great country. The history of no country is 
more marked by striking divine providences. 
Both as Christians and as patriots we ought more 
often to see God's hand in the history of America. 
On this continent God has made the iron to swim. 



148 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Here the impossible has been achieved ; here human 
grit and divine grace have gloriously conjoined 
for the establishment of civil and religious liberty. 
Why was the discovery of America so long de- 
layed ? This question is often asked, and it can 
be clearly answered. To the great nations of Eu- 
rope and of the Orient this country was practi- 
cally unknown through long centuries. God is 
never in a hurry. It often takes thousands of 
years to ripen his vast plans. With him a thou- 
sand years are as one day, and one day is as a thou- 
sand years. When the clock of God's providence 
struck the right hour, the continent of America 
rose to view. Europe was over-crowded, human- 
ity was well-nigh crushed with despotism, and 
civil and religious liberty was almost unknown. 
Then it was that God unveiled this Western 
world, and opened a new field for the hosts of 
brave men and true women who wished to estab- 
lish liberty in worshiping God and in serving 
the State. The Lord God made the iron swim in 
these Western waters. He prevented the Moham- 
medans from casting the dark shadow of a gross 
superstition over the virgin soil of America. He 
saved our country alike from the Mohammedan and 
the Spaniard. He saved it to an open Bible, to a 
free school, and for the development of liberty 
in its noblest ideals. 

The achievements of the Pilgrims truly were as 
if the iron were made to swim. They performed 
the impossible. In his great oration at Plymouth 



THE SWIMMING IRON 149 

Rock, Edward Everett, after recounting the perils 
of the long sea voyage, and the arrival of the Pil- 
grims on the bleak shores of New England, says, 
" Shut the page of history, and tell me on any 
principle of human probability, what shall be the 
destiny of that little band of adventurers." What 
have we seen as the result of that settlement? 
These brave Pilgrims had little capital, but gran- 
ite rocks, icebergs, their own consecrated hearts, 
and their unquestioning faith in God ; but the 
little band has become at least sixty-five millions. 
The Eord God has truly protected the infant 
colony, as when with pillar of cloud and fire, he 
went before his ancient people. God's throne and 
ark were as truly on the shores of New England 
as they were on the shores of Jordan and the bor- 
ders of Canaan. 

In securing national independence, again the 
iron was made to swim. Again the impossible 
was performed ; again divine power and human 
instrumentality were conjoined. Behold the mar- 
velous growth of this nation ! Behold her free 
schools, her open Bible, her civil liberty, her re- 
ligious freedom, her marvelous national pros- 
perity — these are the wonder of the world ! 
Triumphantly she has gone through the great Civil 
War which robed the land in sackcloth and bap- 
tized it in blood ; and she has come up from her 
baptism purified, ennobled, glorified. She has 
wiped the stain of slavery from her beautiful 
flag ; and she has started on a new and grander 



150 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

career. To-day America sits crowned as queen, 
radiant and beautiful, in the Congress of Nations. 
Great questions are still waiting to be solved and 
great perils are to be met ; but in the presence of 
this glorious past, no true son of America will ever 
doubt God or will ever shrink from duty. Deep, 
deep in many a turbid stream lies the iron yet to 
be fashioned for noble service. Divine purpose 
and human performance will raise this iron and 
put it on the helve of American citizenship, and 
additional honor will come to citizenship in the 
republic, and to heirship in the kingdom of God. 
In the scientific realm the iron has been made 
to swim ; the impossible has been fully achieved. 
What was scientifically impossible a few years 
ago, is now so common an experience as to attract 
but little attention. We have entered into the 
formerly mysterious realm of nature, have mas- 
tered many of her secrets, discovered many of her 
subtle laws, and are now applying these laws to 
the duties of life. What once was considered 
mysterious, is now commonplace ; what was once 
miraculous, is now explicable ; and what was 
utterly beyond our comprehension of natural 
law, is now seen to be in fullest harmony with 
the natural law. We are greatly in need of a 
new definition of miracles. It is certain that 
many things, now as common as the sunshine, 
were once believed to be impossible, and had 
thev occurred their greatness would have been 
considered miraculous. All these discoveries of 



THE SWIMMING IRON 151 

nature are making it vastly easier to believe in 
God than ever before. The hand of God in na- 
ture, in history, and in every range of life is one 
of the blessed truths which modern discovery has 
more fully than ever revealed. In the great 
steamships which plow the oceans of the world, 
the iron has literally been made to swim. Rail- 
ways, telegraphs, and telephones have girdled the 
world. 

The recent opening of the long-distance tele- 
phone between New York and Chicago was an 
epoch-making event. Previous to that time we 
had telephones between Paris and London, and 
between New York and Boston ; but none cover- 
ing so great a distance as between New York and 
Chicago, in round numbers one thousand miles 
apart. The line was built with the utmost care 
in the selection of the wood for posts and the ma- 
terial for communication. On the final day a cor- 
net was blown at the receiver in New York, " to 
clear the wires," and every note of the cornet was 
distinctly heard in Chicago. This achievement 
is one of the miracles of modern science. Soon 
an editor dictated in Chicago an editorial to a 
stenographer in Brooklyn ; soon the presses were 
started to print the article dictated, and the noise 
of those presses, separated from the receiver by 
two empty rooms, was distinctly heard in Chi- 
cago. The time will soon come when propelled 
by steam we shall cross the Atlantic in four days ; 
the time may yet come when propelled by elec- 



152 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

tricity, using the waves to generate the electricity, 
we may cross in two days ; and the time may 
come when our passage in airships will be meas- 
ured by hours and not by days. If a man af- 
firmed that we would yet go to the moon in an 
airship, we might be somewhat credulous if we 
believed his statement, but we would be alto- 
gether reckless if we denied his affirmation. If a 
little girl can touch a button m New York and 
blow up great masses of rocks in the Bast River, 
in perfect harmony with natural law, who shall 
dare say that God may not touch a button, and in 
perfect harmony with natural law, cause the walls 
of Jericho to fall down ? 

Who are most of us that we dare deny the pos- 
sible achievements of modern science? Who are 
the greatest scientists that they dare limit the 
power of God working along the lines of natural 
law ? If a man can speak to his brother man in 
Chicago, in perfect harmony with natural law, 
but with laws which until lately we did not 
understand, who shall dare affirm that man may 
not speak to God in heaven in perfect harmony 
with natural law, although the un-Christian scien- 
tist may deny the existence of such a law ? The 
fact is that, rightly understood, all modern discov- 
eries are brin^inof God nearer to earth, and earth 
nearer to heaven, and are making it vastly easier 
to believe in spiritual realities than ever before. 
The most advanced scientist cannot exhaustively 
explain gravitation, electricity, or many other 



THE SWIMMING IRON 153 

things in nature which scientists constantly use 
in making their discoveries. A great change 
within the past twenty-five years has come over 
the spirit of scientific thought. A quarter of a 
century ago it was thought that materialism, 
which Carlyle roughly called u a gospel of dirt," 
was to account for creation in its varied phe- 
nomena. But of all methods of accounting for 
existence materialism is to-day the most objec- 
tionable. 

There has been during the last quarter of a 
century a revival of religious faith in the scien- 
tific world. A generation ago scientific men 
swaggered about in boastful unbelief ; religious in- 
tolerance was nothing compared with the scien- 
tific intolerance of that day. Thank God, that 
spirit has disappeared. To-day we see Mr. Glad- 
stone giving his ripe thought to biblical interpre- 
tation and to the affirmation of Christian faith. 
To-day we see the brilliant debater, the keen poli- 
tician, the able administrator, and the thoughtful 
writer, Mr. Arthur Balfour, writing his notable 
volume entitled " The Foundations of Belief." 
This is a remarkable volume. Nothing is more 
certain than that materialism has had its day, and 
that spiritual realities are affirming their place in 
the world's thought. God is seen to be touching 
earth with his hand, and the thoughts of men with 
his inspiration. Back of all law is the divine law- 
giver; back of all order the divine Ordainer ; 
back of all providences Providence ; and above 



154 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

the longings and aspirations of the children of 
men, the great heart of their Father in heaven. 
Only he who sees the invisible can do the impos- 
sible. Science is laying her crown at the pierced 
feet of the L,ord Jesus, and moving with statelier 
tread, lowlier spirit, and loftier faith than ever be- 
fore, to the music of Christ's name. 

The necessity of making the ir#n swim is also 
illustrated in the conversion of individual souls. 
Bvery man is commanded to perform what to his 
unaided strength is an impossible task. How 
could the man with the withered hand stretch it 
forth ? In his own power obedience was impossi- 
ble ; but with the command came the ability to 
obey. How can a man whose heart is dead in 
trespasses and sin become alive to God? How 
can he give that dead heart to God ? How can 
he enter the strait gate and walk in the nar- 
row way ? How can he overcome the world, the 
flesh, and the devil? How can he endure unto the 
end ? Without divine help these are impossible 
tasks. No man unaided by God can cross the Red 
Sea, march through the wilderness, or take the 
Jericho of his own heart. Without divine help 
Jacob can never be transformed into Israel. But 
for God's divine aid no man could reach down 
into the deep stream of his own sinful nature to 
find the lost axe of noble purpose, and then fit it 
on the helve of God's plan for life and duty. 
But, thank God, there is divine power for the ask- 
ing. No man can come to God except he be 



THE SWIMMING IRON 1 55 

drawn by divine power. But, thank God, there 
is a divine drawing. We do not excuse our mes- 
senger for failing to take a message to Brooklyn 
because there is a river between Brooklyn and 
New York. We ask him, when he returns with- 
out fulfilling our command and telling us that 
the river is deep and broad, " Is there not a ferry ? 
Is there not a bridge?" If God commands us 
to perform impossible tasks he also says to every 
man, " Let him take hold of my strength, that he 
may make peace with me, and he shall make 
peace with me." God is drawing us by the still 
small voice of his Spirit ; and God is also drawing 
us by the thunders of his power. I beseech you 
that you trifle not with that divine drawing. L,et 
me solemnly tell you that you do so at your peril. 
Your heart is growing harder the longer you re- 
fuse to obey. Despise not the love that has 
sought you all these years. Trample not under 
foot the blood of the everlasting Covenant. The 
axe-head of your noblest life has flown off from 
the helve of divine possibility within your reach. 
Do you stand alarmed and helpless ? Behold, a 
better and mightier than Elisha is by your side. 
With his cross he reaches to the depths of your 
soul. He touches the axe which has flown off; 
he wishes to make your life complete by repair- 
ing the damage wrought by sin. Oh, men and 
women, do you not at this moment feel the divine 
drawing? Do you not feel the inert and dead 
mass moving in the center of your soul? Are 



I56 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

you not conscious that already it is rising and 
now is floating before your eyes and within reach 
of your hand. Reach out your hand now, I be- 
seech you, and seize it and reunite helve and iron, 
and be again complete in the sight of God and 
men. In the name of Elisha's I^ord and ours, I 
command you to be made whole to-day ! L,ay 
your divided lives at his feet, where they will find 
happy completion, and then saints on earth and 
seraphs in heaven will rejoice that the lost is 
found, the separate united, and the dead made 
alive again. 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 



' ' Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will 
get ?ne to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frank- 
incense" Solomoji s Song 4 : 6. 






X 

THOSE of you who are accustomed to attend 
this ministry know that comparatively 
seldom are sermons preached in this pulpit from 
texts taken from the Song of Solomon. It is 
readily acknowledged that the book is not with- 
out its serious difficulties. The scholarship of the 
past generation will doubtless lead us in the near 
future to modify some of our former interpreta- 
tions of this book ; but it is not my intention to 
speak of the book as a whole, nor even of the im- 
mediate surroundings of my text. The text itself 
gives us some interesting and instructive lessons ; 
and to these, without further preliminaries, I 
desire to call your thought. 

You will observe, in the first place, that the 
text suggests that there are shadows in every life. 
This melancholy truth we all know ; sometimes 
we think we know it too well, by observation if 
not by experience. There is a crook in every lot ; 
there is a "but" in every life. Every heart 
knows its own sorrow ; every life has its own 
special form of shadow. 

Permit me, however, to particularize some 
shadows in illustration of this general truth. 
There are, in some cases, the shadows of physical 
infirmities. Many men and women have as their 

159 



l6o QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

chief inheritance weak bodies. It is astonishing 
how mnch work a great sonl may get out of a 
weak body, until they are divorced by death, when 
the body, so tired and worn, is permitted to rest 
in the grave, and the spirit to go up in triumph 
to glory and to God. There are, however, even in 
such cases marked compensations in this life. It is 
iuteresting to observe how one faculty will spring 
to the relief of another, and how God sometimes 
gives his richest intellectual and spiritual bestow- 
ments to those who suffer from some form of 
physical infirmity. John Milton would never 
have filled the world with the music of his poetic 
genius had not God closed his eyes. Through his 
sightless eyeballs he saw the resplendent glories 
of heaven ; he saw the marshaled hosts of angels ; 
he saw the gates of pearl and the streets of gold. 
John Milton, sitting in his blindness, was lifted 
to the third heaven by the glory of poetic genius 
and the fervor of religious enthusiasm. Anne 
Steele would never have written so many noble 
hymns, more than one hundred of which are 
found in our recent compilations, were it not for 
her physical infirmities. She has well been called 
the "woman poet of the sanctuary." For sixty- 
one years, until she was released by death, she was 
for much of the time an invalid. During many 
of these years she was confined to her room, and 
during some of them to her bed. At twentv-one 
she was to have been married, but the day before 
the marriage was to take place, her intended hus- 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS l6l 

band was drowned while bathing. The most 
familiar of her hymns is that which begins : 

Father, whate'er of earthly bliss 

Thy sovereign will denies, 
Accepted at thy throne of grace, 

Let this petition rise. 

She never could have written this hymn but for 
the deep shadows on her life. 

Cowper suffered from peculiar sensitiveness of 
body and corresponding sensitiveness of mind. 
At times he lived on the border of insanity ; and 
frequently he contemplated, and more than once 
attempted, suicide. It has often been said that 
so far did he go in his determination that he 
ordered a post-chaise to drive him to the river 
Ouse, that he might end the agony of his life. 
The driver could not find the way, although he 
had never lost it before, and Cowper could not tell 
him. At last the driver turned the carriage home- 
ward, after a few more attempts to find the desired 
location. After Cowper reached the seclusion of 
his own room he composed that matchless hymn, 
beginning : 

God moves in a mysterious way, 

His wonders to perform ; 
He plants his footsteps in the sea, 

And rides upon the storm. 

This has been called the greatest hymn ever 
written on divine providence. Our New York 
sister, Fanny Crosby, whose presence sometimes 



1 62 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

gladdens our worshiping assembly, never would 
have seen Christ crucified in the splendor and 
glory of his divine sacrifice, had not God shut out 
the light of all besides from her eyes. Truly, 

God moves in a mysterious way, 
His wonders to perform. 

There are also the shadows of temporal reverses. 
Many persons just now, in different parts of our 
country, are under very deep and dark shadows 
from this cause. All our hearts lately were sad- 
dened as seldom in our lives as the result of the 
deaths caused by great fires in three States in the 
West. Many others, during the past two years, 
have known trials and shadows from temporal ad- 
versities. Never has any country on the globe 
swept within a year and a half from marvelous 
prosperity to almost unexampled adversity, as has 
this republic of ours. I am not here to speak of 
the cause ; you will have your own views on that 
point. I simply emphasize the unquestionable fact. 
Riches thus often take to themselves wings and 
fly away. 

This is a world of strange mutations. God's 
people suffer as much as, apparently more often 
than, the people of the world. Here, e. g., is a 
man who prays seven times a day, and he is un- 
fortunate in the affairs of life; here is a man who 
does not pray once in seven days, and he appar- 
ently prospers in all his business plans. Will we 
sav that these things are merelv the result of 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 163 

chance? But what do we mean when we so 
affirm ? Shall we be more learned and say they 
are the result of the law of general averages ? 
Now we seem to be talking philosophically. But 
what do we mean by the law of averages ? We 
are simply using a vague term for a plain one ; an 
obscure expression for a simple one. For when 
we analyze our thought we find that we simply 
mean chance. What is chance? Is there any 
such thing ? What is law ? A law is only the 
name we give to the manner in which we observe 
some force to act. Do we mean to say that a law 
accounts for results apart from a lawgiver? 
Away with such a doctrine ! The heart repu- 
diates atheism ; the heart cries out for God, for 
the living God. The mind sympathizes with the 
heart ; a living man must have a living God. 
Never can he satisfy either affection or intellect 
by agnosticism or atheism. A man needs to look 
into his Father's face and to lie at his feet ; he 
needs to feel the throb of his Father's heart. God 
does not make up his accounts at the end of each 
month ; God does not balance the books of provi- 
dence at the end of each year. Be patient, O 
child of God. The end is not yet. We, like the 
psalmist, have looked and we have seen the 
wicked spreading himself like a green bay tree ; 
we have seen wicked men prosperous, and we 
looked again and they could not be found ; even 
their memory had practically ceased among 
men. The memory of the wicked shall rot ; 



\\ 



164 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

| but the righteous shall be in everlasting remem- 
brance. 

There is, also, the shadow of bereavement. 
Perhaps there is no shadow so broad, so deep, so 
dark as this shadow often is. It is simply impen- 
etrable and inexplicable darkness, judged from our 
point of view. During the past week I stood be- 
side the little casket where lay the babe of two 
months of earthly life. Why was that babe 
given to our brother and sister, so soon to be taken 
from their arms and hearts ? God knows ; God 
is too wise to err ; God is too good to be unkind. 
In the Alpine regions, we are told that when the 
sheep have eaten the grass bare on a given level, 
the shepherds come and take the lambs in their 
arms and carry them up higher where the grass 
is green and abundant and where the waters are 
clear and cool ; and soon the sheep clamber up 
the side of the mountain to reach the lambs. So 
now the Good Shepherd takes our lambs from 
our homes and hearts up to his own paradise, that 
parents may be drawn from earth and lifted in 
love and life toward heaven. 

He was an excellent Christian man, from whose 
side his wife had just been taken, who asked me 
this question a little time ago : " Did God need 
her more than I needed her? " " Did God need 
her more than the babe needed her?" a Did 
God need her more than her mother needed her ? ' ' 
She was the only child of her mother, and she 
was a widow. Ah, what could I say? What 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 165 

could you have said ? I only whispered, " Even 
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. ' ' 

Allow me to direct your attention, in the second 
place, to another suggestion in this text. The 
time is coming when the shadows shall flee away : 
" Until the day break and the shadows flee 
away." Yes, the day will dawn when the 
shadows shall flee away. The day of greater 
trust in God will dawn. The day of doubt shall 
entirely end ; the day of sweeter faith shall begin. 
The day will come when we shall know that a all 
things work together for good to them that love 
God." The day approaches when we shall see 
good in seeming evil, and light in real darkness. 
I stood in this pulpit while there sat before me in 
her pew one of the noblest women to whom I 
have been permitted to minister for years. With- 
in ten days she had lost her husband and her only 
child. My heart ached for her as I conducted 
the services that morning. As soon as the ser- 
vices were over, I went to her. The peace of 
God was in her heart ; the glory of the Lord 
was on her face ; and divine quietude reigned 
within her soul. She looked into my face when 
I spoke to her words of pastoral and personal 
sympathy, and said, ■' Though he slay me, yet I 
will trust him." The day had dawned for her. 
Earth has no shadows for the heart that has such 
faith. Earth has no storms to disturb the sea of 
experience when Jesus says, " Peace, be still." 
The psalmist knew what it was to pass through 



1 66 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

trials in the loss of property, of friends, of honor, 
and of all that he held dear ; and yet he was able 
to assure us that before he was afflicted he went 
astray, but now he sought the Lord's precepts 
and walked in the Lord's way. There is thus an 
experience of life, joy, peace, and blessing even 
here and now. The moment we can take the 
hand of Jesus in our hand and kneel by his side 
and say, " Even so, Father, for so it seemed good 
in thy sight," the day of blessedness has begun 
to dawn, and heaven has already begun on earth. 
But better still, the day of everlasting light will 
dawn sure and soon. Life when longest is short, 
when darkest is bright, when roughest is peaceful 
to the child of God. Earth may become a fore- 
taste of heaven ; earth may hear now the music 
of saints and seraphs, and may see the light of 
God streaming through " the gates ajar." I thank 
God for this sweet hope, for this blessed assurance, 
for this unbroken peace. Already the shadows 
are fleeing away ; already the day is dawning. 

It is helpful for us to bear in mind that lights 
and shadows have their uses in every relation in 
/ life. Art would be comparatively meaningless, 
but for its commingling of lights and shades. A 
picture all light would be without expression, 
without character, without real worth of any 
sort. One of the charms of Gothic architecture 
is the opportunity that it furnishes for the inter- 
mingling of lights and shadows. The deep re- 
cesses in the ceiling, in the gallery fronts and else- 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 167 

where in this church, add much to its pleasing 
effects, both in natural and in artificial light. The 
minor chords in music give it no small element of 
its power over the hearts of men. Every trained 
ear watches with interest, and every cultivated 
heart listens with appreciation, to the notes ex- 
pressive of mingled sorrow and joy. The same 
truth is illustrated in the highest poetry ; its deep- 
est undertone is expressive of the inevitable 
shadows of life. Elim, with the waving of its 
palm-trees and the murmur of the waters from its 
twelve wells, is evermore near Marah, with its 
bitter waters and its disappointed pilgrims. The 
tragedies of life are as certain as are its victories ; 
earth is fashioned and controlled so that the 
shadows give deeper significance to the lights of 
life. The falling leaves of autumn are as beau- 
tiful as the bursting buds of spring. The deep- fc 
ening shadows of night are often more impressive 
than the eastern sky, colored with the crimson and 
gold of the rising sun. L,akes of burning lava 
in the Hawaiian Islands are found beside beds of 
blooming and fragrant flowers. But for their 
tragical elements, the great dramas of the ages 
had never been written ; and, if written, they 
would not have controlled the heart and excited 
the imagination of men through the ages. 

Perhaps the pessimists have a place in life, 
although often they are a great trial to us, as truly 
as the optimists. But an earnest Christian will 
not linger long in the darkness of pessimism. 



1 68 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Perhaps indeed, the shadows lie more thickly 
than the sunbeams ; perhaps the winter is more 
dominant than the spring. These comminglings 
of light and shadow are thus seen through all the 
universe of God. All deep lives have their great 

I joys and their correspondingly great griefs. They 
are shallow-hearted people who live constantly in 
one light and with a uniform experience. The 
Son of God was a Man of Sorrows and acquainted 
with grief on one hand ; but he was equally, on 
I the other hand, anointed with the oil of gladness 
above his fellows. God has not given the earth 
up to the devil as his portion ; this earth of ours 
rejoices in heavenly visitants with their transfig- 
uring and celestial sunlight ; but across its fairest 
flowers and its greenest swards, shadows often fall 
and sometimes linger. As the landscape is beau- 
tified by the alternations of mountain and valley, 
of hill and meadow, of river and island, so is life 
by its apparent contradictions, by its lights and 
shadows. The day will dawn when earth's vision 
will glow in a sunlight without an earthly cloud ; 
when the images of the Apocalypse shall become 
glorious realities, and when in a light of golden 
glory the mists of earth shall vanish, and only 
blessed glimpses of the celestial land shall be 
ours. 

And will you notice, briefly, in the last place, 

I * that there is help for us in the meantime : " Until 
the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will 
get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 1 69 

of frankincense." It is supposed that by the 
mountain of myrrh we are to understand a condi- 
tion of penitence, and by the hill of frankincense 
the offering- of prayer. We know the importance 
which the Orientals attached to aromatic shrubs, 
and so I use these words as illustrative of the devel- 
opment of these and other Christian graces. The 
reference to myrrh certainly sets forth the devel- 
opment of the grace of penitence. Our hearts 
need often to be humbled, and our wills broken, 
so that our lives may be fully dedicated to God. I 

The words also set forth the blessedness of 
prayer. Never do we know how to pray as when 
we have been driven to the Father's bosom by the 
rod in the Father's hand. I believe that when 
the rod of chastisement is in the hands of our 
Heavenly Father, and it is laid upon us, the true 
child can go to God and say, u I shall cling to 
thee, and I shall love thee as never before." We 
do not get half the good out of prayer which 
we might receive. Our faith is too weak and our 
love too feeble to lead us to God with our daily 
burdens and our fretting cares. We forget that 
prayer is a spiritual telephone between our lips . 
and hearts and our Father's ear and heart. Prac- \ 
tically, many men have no real faith in the reality 
of this intercourse between heaven and earth. 
Far more wonderful is this telephonic connec- 
tion than the noble achievement of modern 
science when the Atlantic and Pacific shores were 
brought into immediate contact, or when the new 

p 



170 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TRXTS 

world and trie old were able to count each other's 
pulse-beats by the Atlantic cable. We ought to 
know that the slightest whisper of our hearts is 
heard by our Father in heaven. We ought to re- 
member that it is possible for us to make direct 
requests, and to receive immediate answers. 
Abraham said unto God, " O that Ishmael might 
live before thee ! " and the immediate answer 
was, " As for Ishmael, I have heard thee." David 
inquired of the Lord, " Shall I go and smite 
these Philistines?" and the answer of the Lord 
came to David, " Go and smite the Philistines." 
Solomon sent to heaven a long dispatch by this 
spiritual telephone at the time of the dedication 
of the temple ; and immediately the reply came, 
" I have heard thy prayer, and thy supplication 
which thou hast made before me." While Paul 
was engaged in prayer the answer came from God, 
" Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jeru- 
salem." Wherever there is a praying heart there 
will be found a place of prayer. Daniel found an 
oratory in the lion's den ; Jeremiah one in a dun- 
geon ; Jonah one in the depths of the sea ; Peter 
one on the house-top ; and the thief one on the 
cross. We receive little because our requests 
are so few, so small, and so feeble. We have 
been satisfied with the crumbs which fall from 
our Father's table, when we might go into the 
King's palace and enjoy a full meal. We never 
can go too early in the morning to the heavenly 
throne ; its gate of access is always open. We 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 171 

can never go too late at night ; its gate is never 
closed. We need not ascend some Moriah or 
Pisgah ; we need not enter some sacred shrine or 
go to any holy place ; we shall find God wherever 
we seek him, and to the seeking soul every place 
is holy ground. To the eye of faith every bush 
is aflame with God. Prayer can open the win- 
dows of heaven ; prayer can bring angels down ; 
prayer can open the heavens and bring a plentiful 
rain ; prayer can put God in harmony with his 
own precious promises under a holy constraint for 
our help. Would to God that we realized the 
greatness of our privileges, and the blessedness of 
constant communication with our Father in 
heaven ! If we seek God aright we shall never 
seek him in vain. There is a reflex blessing to 
our souls as well as a direct benediction as often 
as our hearts are lifted in prayer. There is a 
blessed intellectual discipline, as well as a holy 
heart culture, in communion with God. Such 
communion inspires the mind with its noblest 
thoughts, the heart with its sweetest affections, 
and the soul with its noblest aspirations. Never 
were truer words uttered than these of Tenny- 
son : 

More things are wrought by prayer 
Than this world dreams of. Wherefore, let thy voice 
Rise like a fountain for me night and day. 
For what are men better than sheep or goats 
That nourish a blind life within the brain, 
If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer 
Both for themselves and those who call them friend ! 



172 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

For so the whole round world is every way 
Bound by gold chains about the feet of God. 

Oh, blessed mountain of myrrh ! Oh, heavenly 
hill of frankincense ! from whose tops we can see 
the glory of heaven, and standing on which we 
can hear the music of angels. 

I think, in the meantime too, we ought to cul- 
tivate the grace of patience. Patience should 
have her perfect work. Charles Haddon Spur- 
geon would never have been the world's greatest 
preacher, notwithstanding all his other gifts, but 
for some of the physical infirmities and racking 
pains, temptations, trials, and even persecutions 
which he endured in his early ministry. They 
cultivated in him the grace of patience. He said 
once to me, that if ever, for a moment, he was up- 
lifted in any way, he had only to look over the 
books of the horrible caricatures of himself which 
he had preserved, representing him as unworthy 
the respect of an intelligent community, and he 
was thoroughly humbled. And yet to-day all the 
English-speaking world, irrespective of religious 
creeds, rejoices in his noble character, great work, 
honored name, and immortal fame. True pro- 
gress is necessarily slow. De Maistre said, " To 
know how to wait is the great secret of success. " 
Patience vanquishes the greatest of foes ; patience 
dwells amid the noblest graces of the ripest and 
sweetest souls. Finely has Mr. Beecher said : 
u At the bottom of every leaf-stem is a cradle, and 
in it is an infant germ ; and the winds will rock 



THE FLEEING SHADOWS 173 

it, and the birds will sing to it all summer long ; 
and next season it will unfold. So God is work- 
ing for you, and carrying forward to the perfect 
development all the processes of your lives." It 
is often said, " Patience is genius" and " patience 
is power" ; and the French proverb adds, "He 
who does not tire tires adversity," while the Span- 
ish proverb thus suggests encouragement to disap- 
pointed hearts, u If I have lost the rings here are 
the fingers still." Patience is a precious jewel ; 
patience gives radiance in darkness, joy in sorrow, 
and peace in trouble. We shall one day thank 
God as much for our sorrows as for our joys. 

Oh, beloved, this evening I beseech you, walk 
on the mountain of myrrh, leap on the hilltops 
of frankincense, trust God with all the heart, and 
wait patiently for him ; and the eternal day will 
dawn, and the earthly shadows will flee away, and 
the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing 
in his wings for br uised bodie s, blighted liye.^ and 
ber eaved heart s. 

Hast thou within a care so deep, 
It chases from thine eyelids sleep ? 
To thy Redeemer take that care, 
And change anxiety to prayer. 

Hast thou a hope with which thy heart 
Would almost feel it death to part? 
Entreat thy God thy hope to crown, 
Or give thee strength to lay it down. 

Hast thou a friend whose image dear 
May prove an idol worshiped here ? 
Implore the Lord that nought may be 
A shadow between heaven and thee. 



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Whate'er the care that breaks thy rest, 
Whate' er the wish that swells thy breast, 
Spread before God that wish, that care, 
And change anxiety to prayer. 



XI 
THE CRUDE CAKE 



Ephraim is a cake not turned:' Hosea 7 : 8. 






XI 

EPHRAIM was the second son of Joseph, by 
his wife Aseuath, and the foremost of the 
twelve tribes of Israel. Ephraim's elder brother 
was Manasseh ; but, as on a former occasion in 
the family, the younger was to rule over the elder. 
The new kingdom ruled over by Jeroboam was in 
large part the kingdom of Ephraim. The word 
Ephraim thus came to stand for Israel, and in this 
representative sense, it is used in the text before 
us. 

A word in regard to baking in the East will 
throw light on the text. It is the custom to heat 
the hearth, or a portion thereof; then sweep care- 
fully the part heated, put the cake upon it, and 
cover it with ashes and embers. In a little time 
the cake is turned. It is then covered again and 
this process is continued several times until it is 
found to be sufficiently baked. Israel, as a loaf, 
had been put under the ashes ; but, though well 
leavened and kneaded, Israel had not been care- 
fully turned. One side became a burnt crust, and 
the other side remained raw dough ; and thus 
both sides were absolutely worthless. 

Ephraim still lives. He has many representa- 
tives at this hour. Let us look at a few of these 
representatives in their order. 

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178 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

The man who lives for pleasure alone is a cake 
not turned. One side of his nature is unduly 
baked ; the other is entirely neglected. Pleasure 
has its uses, but pleasure as a business is a very 
poor business indeed. Honey is good, but the 
man who eats nothing else will have neither 
brawn nor brain. 

There are many representatives of this class. 
Some are from the lower and more groveling 
classes ; these are born in environments of sin. 
Their pleasures are of the lowest and most sen- 
sual kind. They live in the damp cellars of their 
earthly house. Their degradation is seen in their 
very faces. They are almost below the rank of 
human beings and to class them with animals is 
to do the animals injustice. But others of this 
class belong to the higher walks of life. They 
have elegant homes, they are surrounded by every 
evidence of wealth and luxury ; nevertheless, 
they must claim kinship with the more degraded 
classes, in that pleasure is the only aim of their 
lives. One danger of American society in our 
day is that many young men of wealth feel that 
they have nothing to do in life. Comparatively 
few of them are ever graduated from our colleges. 
When they have exhausted the horse-race, the 
latest play, or the newest amusement, they find 
themselves at home in the discussion of petty 
social scandals. Such is the club life of many 
young men, some of whom have honored names. 
They do not live, they simply exist. They are 



THE CRUDE CAKE 179 

a reproach to American life and to the civiliza- 
tion of the nineteenth century. There are in Wall 
street, and in other business centers, honorable 
exceptions ; but the great regret is that these ex- 
ceptions are not more numerous. The idle rich 
are a curse to America. They arouse all the 
anarchistic tendencies of the hour. They are 
themselves anarchists of a dangerous sort, for 
they violate and defy the law of all true national 
growth and stability. They are a reproach to the 
human race. In the old country this crisis has 
happily been passed. A great change has taken 
place within the past generation, certainly within 
the last half-century. Once no work was respect- 
able for sons of nobility and royalty except gam- 
bling or similar pursuits. To-day many men of 
historic names are engaged in banking and other 
forms of useful enterprise. It is felt that there is 
something else to do in life besides fox-hunting 
and pleasure-seeking generally. In order to main- 
tain a respectable standing with the thinking 
classes of society, such men must do something 
in life. If they do not engage in business it be- 
comes necessary for them to be active in some 
form of literary or philanthropic work. Strip 
Mr. Gladstone of all his political honors, and he 
will still stand before the world conspicuous as 
one of the ripe scholars of the day. Remove 
from the Duke of Argyle all the glory of his an- 
cestral name and estates ; leave him simply his 
cultivated intellect and his Christianized heart, 



t8o quick truths in quaint texts 

and he will stand before the world as the author 
of books representing the ripest results of science 
in loving harmony with the deepest teachings of 
religion. Men of wealth and social position like 
Mr. Lecky, can neither satisfy their own ambitions 
nor the demands of society, except as they con- 
tribute something to the world's progress in 
thought and life ; and so Mr. Lecky becomes the 
author of volumes which will make his name 
more enduring than monuments of marble or 
bronze. We ought to be profoundly grateful for 
this tendency of our times. No man has a right 
to live on the fame of his family name. On no 
heraldic crutches ought any man to strut across 
the stage of life. The world to-day asks you not 
what your father or grandfather did, but, " What 
have you done ? " And its demands are right 
and just. The man who lives for pleasure, 
whether of the higher or lower kind, is dead while 
he liveth. He consents to doom himself to an 
early grave, a dishonored name, and an immortal 
shame. He dooms himself to crawl and bite the 
dust, when he might stand erect and eat angel's 
food. He is a cake not turned. One side of his 
nature is burnt to a crust by the fires of unholy 
desire ; the other side of his nature is raw dough. 
Both are worthless. To-day, in the name of all 
that is noble in manhood, and in the name of our 
divine L,ord, I beseech you to be true to the loftier 
instincts of your nature, and live for the glory of 
God and for the good of men. 



THE CRUDE CAKE Ibl 

The man who lives for business alone is a cake 
not turned. This man stands higher, all will ad- 
mit, than the mere votary of pleasure. Business 
is good ; business has its claims ; these claims 
must be recognized. But even though the busi- 
ness be honorable and the methods of its pursuits 
unobjectionable, the man who lives for this life 
alone, loses this life as well as the life which is to 
come. The man to whom this world is a god is 
a wretched idolater. Our Lord gives us two illus- 
trations in his parables of men who lived for this 
life alone. The first is usually called " the rich 
fool." 

Our Lord sets before us this man as a warning 
against covetousness and as an illustration of the 
danger of those who trust in this world's goods as 
a source of blessedness. Nothing is said against 
this man's character. Not a word as to his hav- 
ing procured his wealth by any unjust means. 
Indeed, the fact that a rich farmer rather than a 
trader was chosen as an illustration, suggests the 
honest and laborious processes by which his 
wealth was acquired. The sun, the rain, and all 
the forces of nature, contributed to his increasing 
wealth. He had no room where to bestow his 
fruits. His selfishness appears in that he calls the 
fruits his own: "My fruits and my goods," he 
says. But while he made plans for satisfying the 
flesh, he utterly neglected the higher wants of his 
soul. He says to his soul, " Take thine ease, eat, 
drink, and be merry; thou hast much goods laid 

Q 



1 82 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

up for many years." He expects to feed his soul 
on grain. Well might God address him as Thou 
fool ! Solemn were the words of warning telling 
him that that night his soul would be required of 
him. He heaped up riches ; he knew not who 
would gather them. He was rich toward the 
world ; he was unspeakably poor toward God. 
He made no provision for the future. To him 
the future was a blank. It was blackness ; it was 
darkness ; it was death ; and when the curtain 
fell he went out into that unknown future, leav- 
ing all for which he lived behind. 

In another parable, the rich man and Lazarus, 
our Lord lifts the curtain and shows us what lies 
beyond. This rich man, like that one, lived for 
this life alone. Unlike the first, he lived a life of 
jovial splendor. He was clothed in purple and 
fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day. He 
was the incarnation of selfishness. It is not, how- 
ever, said that he was the oppressor of the poor, 
nor that he had robbed other men of their goods. 
He simply lived for himself. He neglected Laz- 
arus lying at his gate. The rich man dies and is 
buried, and when the costly funeral is over, the 
curtain is drawn aside, and while Lazarus is in 
Abraham's bosom, the rich man lifts up. his eyes 
in hell, in torments. In his wretchedness a drop 
of water on his fiery tongue would be a blessing. 
But he is reminded that in his lifetime he received 
his good things. We have here the only illustra- 
tion in the Bible of a prayer offered to a saint. It 



THE CRUDE CAKE 183 

was a prayer that came from hell, and it was a 
prayer that was not answered. He is still the un- 
believer that he was upon the earth. He wishes 
Abraham to send some one to warn his brethren. 
Abraham reminds him that they have Moses and 
the prophets, but this will not silence him. It is 
as true of the lost as of the saved, that their works 
do follow them. The temper of the Christian in 
heaven is but the full fruition of his temper on 
earth. The spirit of the lost man in hell is but 
the intensification of his spirit on earth. This 
man's demand implies that his brethren on earth 
did not have a fair opportunity, else they would 
have repented. All men who live for this world 
alone have no outlook, no prospect ; this world 
bounds their view. When the call comes for 
them to leave it they go into the unknown land 
for which they are utterly unprepared. I am 
speaking of men whom the world calls eminently 
respectable. For the future to which they are 
hurrying they have made no preparation, and 
such a man's life cannot be but a gigantic failure. 
There comes to my mind while I speak just such 
a man. He lives as utterly without God as if God 
were dead. He is a husband and a father; but he 
and his wife and children sit at their table and 
partake of their food, as far as gratitude to God is 
concerned, precisely as animals might eat. The 
name of Christ is never heard in the house except 
to round a joke or emphasize an oath. This man 
is without God and without hope. He lives for this 



1 84 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

life alone. His only god is business. The most 
important part of his nature is utterly neglected. 
The faculties which would give him kinship with 
angels and God lie absolutely dormant. He is de- 
frauding himself of his possible heritage as a 
child of God and an heir of heaven. He is rob- 
bing his home of the sunlight of Christ's pres- 
ence. He is a cake not turned. One side of his 
nature is scorched by the friction of the world's 
cares, and the other is raw dough. 

The world has claims upon men of wealth 
among us. Great possessions involve correspond- 
ing responsibility, and the intellect that is used in 
acquiring ought also to be used in wisely distrib- 
uting. God will not hold him guiltless who 
amasses great wealth for personal gratification or 
family aggrandizement. The wants of ten thou- 
sand needy enterprises demand recognition. Only 
he whose nature is symmetrically developed under 
the guiding influence of Christ, who came not to 
be ministered unto but to minister, who came to 
rule by serving, who came to be King by being 
the lowliest of all, who came to give life by his 
death ; only as men's lives are modeled by his ex- 
ample can they truly live and triumphantly die. 
If their life is like that of Ephraim it is a cake 
unturned — on the one side a blackened crust ; on 
the other raw dough. These are crude lives ; the 
word crude means uncooked. The need is that 
the love of God and the love of their neighbors 
should so warm their hearts that their characters 



THE CRUDE CAKE 1 85 

should be baked through and through, else they 
cannot escape the charge made against Ephraim 
of old. 

A man who lives for culture alone, as that word 
is usually understood, is a cake not turned. This 
remark will not apply to a culture that is broad 
and deep, a culture that takes in the entire being. 
What is culture ? Look at the derivation of the 
word. It is tilling. To till you must plow or 
delve ; you must rake or harrow. You have cul- 
ture in a field only as you have tilling. Parts of 
the field that have not been tilled are not cultured. 
That cannot be called a cultured field in which 
large portions have been utterly neglected. New- 
world farmers are astonished when they see the 
fields of old-world farmers. Every spot is tilled ; 
every mountain-side is cultured. No man can 
claim that his is a well-tilled farm, if much of 
it has never felt plow or spade. No man can 
claim the honors of culture, portions of whose 
nature lie fallow. What would you say of a man 
who claimed to be cultured simply because his 
muscles were well developed? You say, "Yes; 
he has physical culture ; let him limit his claim 
to that." But you rightly demand more. The in- 
tellect also must have culture. Now, more of the 
territory has been gone over ; now, more may 
rightly be claimed by the man. But why stop 
there ? The man is more than muscle and mind. 
You must go higher. All things below man look 
up to man as their center. Shall he have no up- 



1 86 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

ward look ? All faculties within look to the heart, 
the soul, the conscience. The word conscience 
suggests this upward look. It is a solemn word. 
It is knowing together with another. Who is 
that other ? There stands God. Language itself 
witnesses for its Author. Man is not a god unto 
himself. A true culture includes the entire field ; 
it sweeps across every faculty. It has its earth- 
ward, manward, and Godward relation. If lack- 
ing in any of these directions, it is a partial, de- 
fective, and unauthoritative culture. It is a cake 
baked only on one side. 

Tried by this true standard many claimants for 
this honor will be found wanting. Sidney Smith 
thought it better not to read a book which he was 
to review ; reading it might prejudice his judg- 
ment. So do men of culture in some directions 
seem to act in regard to religion and the Bible. 
The religious sides of their natures are neglected ; 
other parts are cultivated. On science and art 
they would not make ignorance a claim to author- 
ity ; in regard to religion they act as if their ig- 
norance especially fitted them for bold and author- 
itative statement. Such men would receive our 
contempt did not our religion teach us to give 
them our pity. The apostles would say, "We 
speak what we do know " ; not so with these ill- 
cultured critics of divine things. Locke said : "It 
needs a sunny eye to see the sun/' He is right. 
No man can really see the ocean, except he has 
oceans in his soul ; no man can really enjoy the 



THE CRUDE CAKE 187 

mountains, except he has mountains on his brain ; 
no man knows love but he who has felt its con- 
straining power. Flesh and blood cannot reveal 
the deep things of God to a man. The Lord's 
secret is with those who fear him. To know bread 
and meat you must eat them. A hungry man 
who should coolly pronounce on the life-giving 
qualities of bread and meat as a result of a chem- 
ical analysis, would proclaim himself a fool. You 
would say of him that much starving had made 
him mad. So to be able to judge of religion you 
must have religion. This is not, on the part of 
the religious teacher, asking too much. If you are 
to demonstrate to me a problem in geometry, you 
have a right to demand that I shall know enough 
of the science to follow you step by step. If I do 
not, how dare I dissent from your conclusion ? Is 
my ignorance to give me authority ? Geometric- 
ally I am, on this supposition, a cake not turned. 
Surely a man ought to be diffident in pronounc- 
ing an opinion on subjects which he has never 
studied. Sir Isaac Newton was right when he 
said to Dr. Halley, a man of science but an un- 
believer in God's word, "I am glad to hear you 
speak about astronomy or mathematics, for you 
have studied and you understand them ; but you 
should not talk of Christianity, for you have not 
studied it." That is good sense. Dr. Halley was 
not a man of culture, so far as Christianity was 
concerned ; that side of his nature was unbaked. 
Carlyle's culture was painfully one-sided. He was 



1 88 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

crusted on the one side; he was crude on the 
other. The harsh, the crabbed, the unloving 
elements were unduly developed; the tender, 
gentle, and winning graces were neglected. The 
men who bless and save the world are not of his 
stamp. His very greatness makes his weakness 
the more conspicuous. It is also to be borne in 
mind that Carlyle seems to have come in his later 
years more fully into the light of Christ than in 
his middle life. Carlyle fully acknowledged that 
as he stood on the brink of eternity the old words 
learned in childhood came back with wondrous 
power — that the chief end of man was to glorify 
God and to enjoy him forever. Culture! Yes; 
but let it be the culture of the whole man. When 
Moses came down from the mount, beams of 
supernal splendor radiated from his face. Of the 
silent John and the eloquent Peter men took 
knowledge that they had been with Jesus. With 
all your culture forget not that which can be 
learned only in the school of Christ. Culture 
will adorn piety, but piety crowns and glorifies 
culture. We want both. Both are one. That is 
not true culture which fails to cultivate the nobler, 
the diviner elements of the soul. The man who 
neglects this is a crude Ephraim — a cake not 
turned. 

A man who is half-hearted in religion is a cake 
not turned. Ephraim had introduced much of 
the superstition and idolatry of the Gentile 
nations into the worship of Jehovah. Ephraim, 



THE CRUDE CAKE 1 89 

though proud and haughty as a tribe, had been 
lacking in moral backbone, in loyalty, in conse- 
cration, in the service of God. The people had 
worshiped calves at Dan and at Bethel ; and yet 
they called on the name of the Lord. They, like 
the inhabitants of Samaria in later times, feared 
the Lord and served their own gods. There are 
such professors of religion to-day. They have a 
name to live and are dead ; they have the form of 
godliness but not the power. They have not true 
religion either in experience or in practice. They 
to-day serve Baal; to-morrow Jehovah ; the next 
they flit as birds from branch to branch, halting 
between God and Mammon. This is poor busi- 
ness. A half-and-half man is a failure always and 
everywhere. No compromise : This should be 
the Christian's watchword. That was a magnifi- 
cent army of David's, "fifty thousand who could 
keep rank ; they were not of double heart." They 
had but one purpose, the honor of their king and 
the glory of their God. They did not have one 
heart for the field and another for the home. To- 
day Jesus Christ calls for men with one heart, and 
that heart on fire with his love. We want no un- 
turned cakes. The church of Christ wants men 
with convictions ; men who know why they are 
Christians. The world needs such men. Men 
strong and true ; living, loving, brave, and gentle 
men — these the church of God needs. Christ in- 
dicates the men he wants. He commands us, in 
his admirable summary of the Ten Words, to love 



190 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

God with all our heart and mind and strength. 
That is culture. All our faculties, and all of each 
faculty, must be called into service. We are also 
to love our neighbors as ourselves. Self-love is 
right ; selfishness is devilish. It is sometimes said 
of some men that they are very pious Godward, but 
very crooked man ward. That is a severe criticism 
when it is true. That is not Christ's model man. 
He is symmetrical; he is baked through and 
through. Unconverted men are crude, uncooked 
men. A Christian is like a biscuit, twice cooked, 
as the word means. Christ alone can make such 
men. Come to the cross of the perfect Man to 
learn the first lesson in true manhood. Let his 
love sweetly bake your hearts clear through. 
Starting thus, and continuing thus, you will never 
be rebuked as crude Ephrairns, but you will one 
day be presented to God as perfect men and women 
in Christ Jesus. 



XII 
THE COSTLY JOURNEY 



So he paid the fare thereof. ' ' Jonah I : J. 



XII 

IT is the habit of some German and other critics 
to affirm that the book of Jonah is largely or 
wholly fictitious. But the explanations given by 
these critics in attempting to account for the book 
are more difficult to believe than is the book 
itself. The book has worthy moral objects. It 
sets forth the peril of fleeing from the path of 
duty, even when that path is a dangerous one ; 
it shows us God's desire to bring back his wan- 
dering children; and it emphasizes his willing- 
ness to forgive heathen nations, when they come 
in repentance to his feet. These objects explain 
the story and justify its place in the sacred record. 
Jonah is distinctly recognized in both Testaments 
as a historical person ; and our Iyord puts his ap- 
proval on the mission of Jonah, and explains its 
spiritual significance. Did he not know whether 
the history of Jonah was true or false ? If it were 
only fiction would Jesus Christ speak of it as if it 
were true ? Perish the thought ! L,et Jesus Christ 
be true though every critic be false. Admit God 
and you must admit any miracle which God may 
deem necessary for the accomplishment of his 
purpose. It is an interesting fact that Jonah has 
great honor among almost all of the Oriental 
nations ; his name is associated with an entire 

R i 93 



194 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

chapter in the Koran. We know that the word 
" whale " means simply a great fish, or sea mon- 
ster ; the species of marine animal is not defined 
here and the Greek word used in the New Testa- 
ment and translated whale is equally broad. Per- 
haps a species of the shark fish, still common in 
those waters, is intended. These fish are large 
enough to swallow a man. Modern discoveries 
are proving the correctness of the references made 
to the size of Nineveh, and to other important 
matters mentioned in this book. 

Confining our attention to the thoughts sug- 
gested by the text, we see that Jonah paid a great 
price for his passage. Seldom has there been a 
more expensive journey than the one which he 
took when endeavoring to flee from the presence 
of the Lord. Jonah did not travel on a pass ; he 
was not a deadhead. He wished to pay his way, 
and he seems to have gone to the captain or other 
officer with a great show of honesty in his desire 
to pay for his passage. We know not how many 
shekels his passage cost, but we know that it cost 
him that which cannot be estimated by coin. 

For that passage he gave his self-respect. This 
is an enormous price for any man to pay on any 
occasion. No man can look for respect from 
others if he does not possess respect for himself. 
No man deceives others until he has first deceived 
himself. So long as a man is true to himself he 
may expect others also to be measurably true to 
him. 



THE COSTLY JOURNEY 1 95 

This is wise counsel of the great dramatist : 

To thine own self be true ; 
And it must follow, as the night the day, 
Thou canst not then be false to any man. 

Somehow we feel disposed, for a time at least, 
to take men at their own estimate of themselves. 
We may, indeed, reduce that estimate when it is 
very high, but we cannot certainly expect to in- 
crease it when it is very low. A man may rightly 
rejoice in the loss of the respect of others, so long 
as conscience and God give him unqualified 
approval ; but the moment he loses the approval 
of conscience and God he becomes unspeakably 
poor. The very word u respect " is instructive; 
it suggests that the object to which it is applied 
is worth looking back upon, or worth looking at 
the second time. When a man cannot look at 
himself without contempt for himself, he is in 
a truly wretched condition. 

Jonah gave also his reputation as part of the 
price of his ticket. We may rightly care com- 
paratively little for our reputation if only our 
character is right. As compared with a worthy 
character a good reputation is relatively unimpor- 
tant. Nevertheless a good reputation is not to be 
Rightly esteemed. Preachers of God's truth are 
t^ strive to have a good reputation among men as 
well as a right character in the sight of God. 
Their power for usefulness largely depends upon 
the possession of both character and reputation. 



I96 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Jonah had to cast in his lot with sailors and 
travelers as one of them when he went into the ship. 
He practically denied his mission as a prophet of 
Jehovah, and in his desire to flee from the path of 
duty, he became virtually an unbeliever. He 
seemed to forget that there was a God in Tarshish 
who was conscious of his disobedience. He acted 
as if he feared for his personal safety should he 
pursue the path pointed out by God ; and also as 
if he feared that God would retract his threat to 
destroy Nineveh ; and when God did arrive at this 
decision, Jonah was exceedingly displeased. His 
companions on the ship discovered, as the result 
of casting lots, that Jonah was the cause of their 
peril ; and the shipmaster soon came to him say- 
ing, " What meanest thou, O sleeper? Arise, 
call upon thy God, if so be that God will think 
upon us, that we perish not." He is obliged to 
acknowledge that he is a Hebrew, that he feared 
the God of heaven, and that he fled from the 
presence of the Lord. Even the heathen officers 
and passengers were astounded that he could 
offend such a God as the God of heaven, and that 
he should attempt to escape his wrath by flight. 
But we cannot help admiring his honesty when 
he urged the men to take him up and cast him 
into the midst of the sea. He is at least frank in 
the confession that he makes. The men showed 
an excellent spirit in their desire to save him by 
rowing hard to reach the land, but the sea only 
became more furious. Jonah loses thus the good 



THE COSTLY JOURNEY 197 

opinion of the officers and passengers on the ship. 
The devil is a hard task-master ; and the time in- 
variably comes when he and ungodly men despise 
their own dupes whom they have led into sin. 
The man who truly fears God need never fear the 
face of man ; but the man who disobeys God is 
soon brought into disrepute even among the god- 
less. 

But Jonah gave, also, the approval of God for 
his ticket. Neither man nor devil can estimate 
the costliness of this element in Jonah's passage. 
God gave Jonah a distinct and personal call to 
perform a definite work in his kingdom. In this 
call to Jonah God specifically mentions his name ; 
he calls for Jonah, the son of Amittai. God 
knows us in our family relations ; God knows the 
name of our father, and the names of our chil- 
dren. God vocalizes his thought ; and God local- 
izes his man. We thus see that God knows men 
and women by the names which they bear among 
men. God knows men and women also in their 
residential relations. He called Ananias in Da- 
mascus to go into the street which is called 
" Straight "; we thus see that God knows streets 
in cities. He knows Fifth Avenue, he knows 
Fifty-seventh Street. He knows the houses in 
the streets ; for he specified in this command 
to Ananias that he was not only to go into 
the street which is called " Straight," but he was 
to inquire in the house of Judas. God knows 
also all the members of a household ; for he com- 



198 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

inanded Ananias to " inquire in the house of 
Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus." God knew 
Saul's birthplace ; and knew that he was then 
called " Saul of Tarsus." God knows us in our 
occupations and engagements, for he announced 
to Ananias that at that moment Saul was engaged 
in prayer, "for, behold, he prayeth." Such 
knowledge on the part of God is wonderful, ten- 
der, and solemn. God sees individual men and 
women ; and we cannot escape from his notice 
and call because of any crowd in which we may 
be. God still calls men and women to duty, as he 
called Jonah. Our relationship to God is itself 
one form of a divine call to divine service. We 
are not as the beasts that perish ; we are made in 
the image of God. We are placed upon creation's 
pedestal ; we are creation's crown and glory ; we 
are made a little lower than the angels. Our 
erect posture is one call from God to look upward. 
Other creatures go on all-fours ; they can easily 
look downward, around, and forward ; but man 
can naturally look upward. God help us to be 
truly worthy of our name and place in his crea- 
tion ! 

Our relationship to men emphasizes God's call. 
We owe duty to our neighbor as to ourselves. 
Every blessing which we have received from God 
we ought to bestow upon men. Every true man's 
life consists of one hemisphere in which he re- 
ceives blessings from God, and of the other hem- 
isphere in which he bestows blessings upon men. 



THE COSTLY JOURNEY 1 99 

The more we give, the more we have ; the more 
we keep, the less we truly possess. Religion is 
multiplied not by keeping, but by bestowing. He 
who giveth, hath ; but he who unduly withhold- 
eth, hath not. That is the divine law. God in 
his word and Spirit still calls us to serve him. The 
Bible is not chiefly a book of precepts ; it is rather 
a book of principles. If men were writing a book 
to be the guide of their fellow-men, it would 
abound in precepts concerning painfully minute 
details. God does not so write. There are pre- 
cepts in the Bible, for it is addressed to persons of 
all ages and conditions ; but, for the most part, the 
Bible is a book of principles, great, broad, deep, 
high principles. The Bible expects men to use 
judgment, to exercise thought, and to assume re- 
sponsibility for the application of these great prin- 
ciples. Thus the Bible develops character. These 
principles meet us in all the relations of life. They 
confront the pastor in his relations with the peo- 
ple, the physician with the patient, the lawyer 
with the client, the merchant with the customer, 
and the employer with the employed. These 
mighty principles are universal as gravitation ; 
they are eternal as God. 

Truths in God's book are not classified and 
labeled, as are teachings in books of human law. 
The Bible is not a museum ; it is not a herbarium. 
It is rather a garden in orderly disorder, in heav- 
enly confusion, which is divine harmony. 

God's word comes to us at some special crisis in 



200 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

our life, calling us to some particular form of 
duty : "Arise," said God to Jonah, "go to Nine- 
veh.," that great city on the eastern bank of the 
Tigris, opposite the site of the modern Mosul. 
This special call may be the beginning of a new 
era in our history. God meant it to be a great oc- 
casion for Jonah, a great occasion for Nineveh, a 
great occasion for the human race. Human life is 
not always on the same dead level. There are 
hours into which a whole lifetime is crowded ; 
there are moments of great exaltation : there are 
times when heaven comes down to earth, and 
times when earth rises to heaven. Marvelous ex- 
periences are sometimes compacted into a few mo- 
ments. There is not one listener here this even- 
ing, who does not recall periods when he or she 
lived years in an hour, lived volumes in a minute. 
Such a time came to Abraham when God called 
him to go out to a place that he knew not ; such 
a time to Moses when he was called to be the de- 
liverer of his people ; such a time to Gideon when 
God assured him that by him he would break the 
yoke of Midianite bondage ; such a time to Luther 
as he went to the Diet of Worms ; and such a 
time to John Knox when at the age of forty-two 
God called him to preach the gospel, to stir Scot- 
land, to move the world, and to defy the queen, 
the pope, and the devil. Such a time came to 
William the Silent when he rode in the forest of 
Vincennes with the King of France, and when 
Henry informed him of the secret league into 



THE COSTLY JOURNEY 201 

which he had entered with Philip of Spain for 
the destruction of Protestantism by the extirpa- 
tion of all Protestants. Too good a diplomatist to 
manifest alarm or even surprise, he rode on with 
the king- and finished the hunt, but he formulated 
his plans to deliver the Protestants and to destroy 
the power of Charles, of Philip and of the pope, 
and thus he became the Moses of another exodus. 
How wonderful are those occasions, often quiet 
and sometimes almost unnoticed, when a lifetime 
is enfolded in a few minutes ! Then it is that 
God's hand sweeps over the key-board of the 
organ of our soul, and a new note is struck, a new 
tune is sung, and life is never again what it was 
before. It is ever after on a higher level ; it is in 
a clearer atmosphere ; it is ever in the sunshine 
of God's uplifted countenance. Happy are we if 
we listen to that note when God's finger touches 
the key ! The great dramatist again uttered a true 
word when he said : 

There is a tide in the affairs of men, 
Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune ; 
Omitted, all the voyage of their life 
Is bound in shallows and in miseries. 

I would to God that you all might hear God's 
call now ! You may fail in the crisis of life, and 
you then will journey over its path with bowed 
heads and wounded hearts. You may turn your 
back upon God, but in so doing you turn your 
back upon life, light, peace, and joy. The clock 



202 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

of Providence is now striking the hour of destiny 
for some soul. Listen ! Do you not hear it peal- 
ing out its call, and echoing that call through the 
chambers of your soul ? Obey God's voice ; run 
in the way of God's commandments, and life will 
be a foretaste of heaven, and earth will be itself a 
paradise of God. 

But we, like Jonah, may disobey God's call. 
Jonah was called to Nineveh, but Jonah strove to 
go to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. It 
is now almost certain that Tarshish was Tartessus 
in Spain. We know that the Phoenicians were in 
the habit of trading by ship with this city. He 
thought he could throw off responsibility for neg- 
lecting his commission by flight to another city. 
The power to disobey God is one of the fearful 
incidents of our God-given freedom. Doubtless 
Jonah was, as his name implies, a timid, shrinking 
man. He was nervous ; he was self-willed. There 
were times when his condition bordered on insan- 
ity, resulting from his melancholic disposition ; 
he seems occasionally to have been a pitiable hy- 
pochondriac. He was perhaps hardly responsible 
always for his acts. He was also a true patriot on 
another side of his nature ; and he did not wish 
to officiate as a prophet of God among these idol- 
aters. But there is no folly so great as that of him 
who opposes the Almighty. Pharaoh made this 
attempt, and he and his hosts were overwhelmed 
in the Red Sea. No man, unless he is blinded 
by sin and duped by Satan, will dare run against 



THE COSTLY JOURNEY 203 

the thick bosses of the Almighty's buckler. Jonah 
gave a great price in taking the risk of misery in 
life and eternal banishment from God when he 
gave for his passage the approval of God. 

Out of this disapproval came the loss of peace 
of conscie7ice. Conscience makes cowards of us 
all ; an instructed conscience is always on the side 
of God and duty. No reward of sin can ever re- 
munerate a man for the loss of the peace which 
comes from obedience to God and faithful per- 
formance of duty. The very word conscience 
implies knowing together with another ; that 
other is God. That mutual knowledge brings 
conviction of sin as the result of wrong-doing. 
External circumstances which favor our disobe- 
dience to God, do not imply that our disobedience 
has God's approval. Jonah found a ship all ready 
to slip its cables and to hoist its sails. Had that 
ship not been there we may say that the whole 
story of his life might have been changed ; that 
he would have time for reflection and prayer, and 
that in a better mood he would have acted more 
wisely. Perhaps he congratulated himself on 
finding the ship apparently waiting for his arrival, 
and assumed that this fortunate coincidence was 
an evidence of God's approval. But we ought to 
bear in mind that God does not make up his ac- 
counts at sunset of every day. Still we ought to 
be considerate toward Jonah's weakness at the 
moment. If the ship had been ready for you and 
me when perhaps we were tired and discouraged 



204 QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

with, duty, we might have sailed to some Tarshish ; 
had the opportunity been given us we might have 
blackened our lives and have lost our souls ; but 
God in his infinite providence was unspeakably 
good in causing the ship to sail before we reached 
the dock. You men have no right to put temp- 
tation in the way of your employees ; you have 
no riodit to be careless in vour accounts. You 
women should not tempt those serving in your 
homes by leaving money and valuables exposed, 
lest they appropriate your property and dishonor 
their own lives. Cut the cable and let the ship 
of opportunity float out into the sea before it 
brings men and women into sin. But there are 
men who, like Jonah, wish to be very honest with 
their employers and partners, and yet are willing 
to cheat their God. There are men who would 
not steal a ride from a railroad company, but they 
rob God. You should know that God wants your 
life, your heart, your will, your entire being. 

In paying his fare Jonah took the risk of losing 
his life, temporal and eternal. But for the strange 
providence of God his temporal life certainly 
would have been lost. Touching are the prayers 
which he offered unto God when the floods com- 
passed him about and all God's billows and waves 
passed over him. He felt like one who was buried 
alive ; he realized that he was shut up in darkness 
and imprisoned apparently without hope of ever 
seeing again the light of day. It is a terrible 
thins: for a man to take such risk for time and for 



THE COSTLY JOURNEY 205 

eternity. Satan's road to hell exacts a costly fare. 
God in heaven, what a price men pay for their 
ticket to perdition ! Satan's road is a costly line 
on which to travel. Am I not uttering words 
which your own conscience approves? The old 
proverb is eternally true, "He who suppeth with 
the devil needeth a long spoon" ; but there never 
was a spoon so long but that its handle was found 
to be too short when the supping was done. 

Jonah gave for that ticket also a final self-sur- 
render to God^s command. God's word will tri- 
umph in the end. Men must obey God. The 
winds and waves are often God's messengers. 
Cyclones may be preachers of God's eternal truth. 
The glorious sun is the reflection of God's up- 
lifted countenance. The stars are God's brilliant 
thoughts, and the flowers are his beautiful 
thoughts. The undevout astronomer is mad. 
The true student in nature's laboratory will be- 
come a disciple at Jesus' feet in the temple of 
revelation. Oftener than we suppose there is a 
moral element in storms and calms; and God 
often uses even wicked men to advance his plans. 
See how that ship plunges and rocks ; how it reels 
to and fro like a drunken man ! How terribly the 
waves roll ! Jonah sleeps in the side of the boat, 
while the sailors are in desperation, and begin to 
throw off the bales of goods. These bales were 
probably the property of merchants in Tarshish 
and elsewhere. Because of one sinful man this 
cargo of goods is thrown into the sea. One bad 

s 



206 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

man destroys much good; one bad man is a 
calamity to a community. If men could only 
go down alone their fall would not be so sad; 
but some men are like mighty cedars in Leb- 
anon, and when they go down they drag the sap- 
lings after them. Every sinner is a public evil. 
And every sinner's conscience will say c * amen ' ' 
to God when he casts him into utter dark- 
ness. Oh, men and women, what God wants 
is your hearts. Give him your hearts and the 
waves will cease, and the winds will be calm, and 
the peace of God will be in your souls to-day. 
You must obey God; Jonah had to go to Nineveh. 
If you will not bow to the gentle sceptre of Jesus 
Christ, you will have to bow before the iron rod 
of his power. Jonah must go, Jonah did go, to 
Nineveh. 

The time is coming, God alone knows how soon, 
when at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, 
in heaven, in earth, and under the earth ; the day 
is hastening when every tongue shall confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the 
Father. Almighty Christ, hasten the day ! May 
God help us all to obey now, drawn by the cords 
of heavenly love, so that we shall not be finally 
driven by the whip of justice as was Jonah to his 
neglected duty. Almighty God, draw us now by 
the bands of love and by the cords of a man that 
we may run after thee. 



XIII 
THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 



"Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? 
Jeremiah ij : 12, 



XIII 

IT is not necessary to remind you that these 
words are a proverb. Proverbs abound in 
the word of God ; they are found in both the 
Old and New Testaments. The Orientals were a 
people much given to proverbial forms of utter- 
ance. A proverb has been well defined as ' ' The 
wisdom of many and the wit of one." We need 
not, therefore, be surprised that our Lord and his 
prophets and apostles were accustomed to use the 
proverbs which they found among the people, in- 
jecting into these common sayings a higher and 
holier meaning. Our Lord never refused to se- 
lect a good form of expression from whatever 
source it came, and adapt it to his own special 
purpose. The Sermon on the Mount contains 
truths that are found scattered through many pas- 
sages of Jewish literature. Many of the thoughts 
in that sermon were not entirely original ; our 
Lord took them as he found them, and gave them 
a new and nobler setting. So with writers such 
as Jeremiah ; they took familiar forms of expres- 
sion and adapted them to their own special pur- 
poses and desires. 

THE PROVERB'S SIGNIFICANCE. 

This proverb is one which possesses a local col- 
oring, a local setting, and a local significance. 

20Q 



2IO QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

Many other proverbs are more general in coloring 
and setting than the one before us for considera- 
tion this evening. By the iron, in the early part 
of the text, we are to understand the common 
iron ; by the northern iron, a kind much more 
costly, much harder and better. The northern 
iron was supposed to come from the Chalybes, a 
people near the Pontus. The common iron of 
that time was comparatively worthless, but the 
northern iron was relatively good. The steel, of 
which mention is here made, had a large mixture 
of brass or copper united with tin, to give it 
hardness. What is the special and primary ref- 
erence of this proverb as here given ? Some sup- 
pose that it refers to the relations between the 
Jews and the Chaldeans, and that Jeremiah prac- 
tically said to the Jews: "You, in comparison 
with the Chaldeans, who come out of the north, 
and are brave and terrible, are only as common 
iron compared to the northern iron and steel ; you 
would be no match for them in the councils of 
peace or in the exploits of war." Others suppose 
that the reference is to Jeremiah himself in his 
relations to the Jewish people. He was a man of 
fine texture ; but the people about him were 
coarse and rude. Jeremiah shrank from the dis- 
charge of the solemn duties which God had laid 
upon him toward his people. So God promised, 
in chapter I : 18, to make him as an iron pillar 
and as brazen walls to those to whom he preached 
unwelcome truths. Thus the people would not 



THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 211 

prevail against the preacher. Every preacher 
often has to utter truths which he would rather 
not express, if by silence he could be loyal to God 
and faithful to the people. As a timid child, 
Jeremiah shrank from uttering prophecies which 
the people did not wish to hear. According to 
this interpretation, God practically says to him, 
"Jeremiah, shall the common iron, the rude, ig- 
norant, and ungodly people overcome you, the 
northern iron and the steel? You are strength- 
ened by my divine power ; be brave, my prophet ; 
do your duty, and God will give you the victory." 
Northern iron and steel must always triumph 
over common iron. This latter is, in my judg- 
ment, the true primary reference of this proverb. 
But we have here a broader truth. To this 
broader application of the proverb I desire to call 
attention. Several suggestive lines of thought 
diverge from the text as thus explained. It gives 
us the general truth that the lower nature cannot 
eventually triumph over the higher ; that the 
worse cannot secure a victory over the better; 
that wrong shall not always be on the throne, and 
right always on the cross. It teaches us that 
truth is as northern iron and steel, while falsehood 
is as common and comparatively worthless iron. 
Allow me now to apply this general rule to some 
special relations in life. 

SHALL THE LOWER TRIUMPH IN MAN? 

Shall the lower elements of our life triumph 



212 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

over the higher ? Fallen and ruined as we are, 
there is still something of the angel, as well as 
much of the demon, in every human life ; there 
are elements of goodness as truly as of badness in 
every human soul. There is a side of our souls 
that opens like a flower to the sunshine when the 
light of Christ falls upon it ; and there is another 
side that is like a poisonous weed, growing not in 
the sunshine of purity and love, but in the gloom 
and darkness of sin and Satan. There is a Mr. 
Hyde and there is a Mr. Jekyll in every human 
heart. 

The principle of the text applies also to the 
question : Shall the iron of the old nature break 
the northern iron and steel of the new nature in 
Christ Jesus ? When we are converted we become 
new creatures ; old things are passed away, and 
all things become new. We profess to have con- 
secrated all our powers of body and mind to the 
service of God. We profess to give Christ the 
chief place in our hearts, and to make him the 
sole ruler over all the territory of our natures. 
But we are conscious that there is a constant duel 
in our dual nature. The experience of the Apos- 
tle Paul in the seventh chapter of Romans is our 
daily experience. Each man is obliged to say, 
" That which I do, I allow not ; for what I would, 
that I do not ; but what I hate, that do I." We 
fully sympathize with all that Paul says regard- 
ing the good which we know and do not, and the 
evil which we would not and vet do. We know 



THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 213 

that there is a law in our members warring 
against the law of our mind, and bringing us into 
captivity. It is scarcely to be doubted that the 
experience of the apostle as expressed in this 
chapter was his experience after conversion ; it is, 
as it seems to us, impossible to explain his lan- 
guage on any other supposition. He was con- 
scious of this twofold nature within him. 

Many men, even without the light of the gos- 
pel, experience a somewhat similar conflict. In 
Xenophon's " Cyropsedia," Araspes, the Persian, in 
order to excuse his treasonable designs says : " Cer- 
tainly I must have two souls ; for plainly it is not 
one and the same which is both evil and good ; 
and at the same time wishes to do a thing and not 
to do it. Plainly then, there are two souls ; and 
when the good one prevails then it does good, and 
when the evil one predominates, then it does 
evil." Epictetus expresses a similar thought 
when he says : " He that sins does not do what he 
would, but what he would not, that he does." 
And the well-known passage from Ovid seems 
almost to have been in the apostle's thought : "De- 
sire prompts one thing, but the mind persuades 
to another. I see the good and approve it, and 
yet pursue the wrong." 

Bvery man who has attempted to live a really 
noble Christian life has been conscious at times 
of this struggle. Corrupt passions and evil 
thoughts war against all the nobler elements of 
the soul. But let not the man doubt his conver- 



214 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

sion, if he is able to say with the apostle, " For I 
delight in the law of God after the inward man." 
This delight shows that he who experiences it is 
a renewed man. No impenitent sinner ever truly 
delights in this spiritual law of God. L,et not 
any true believer doubt the reality of his conver- 
sion because of this inward struggle. He will be 
able soon to utter the glorious shout contained in 
the opening portion of the next chapter of this 
same epistle. It is the privilege and duty of 
every child of God to overcome the world, the 
flesh, and the devil. This glorious promise may 
well inspire every heart : " To him that over- 
cometh will I grant to sit down with me in my 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down 
with my Father in his throne." We all must at 
times exclaim with the apostle, " Oh, wretched 
man that I am ! Who shall deliver me from the 
body of this death ? " Some believe that the 
apostle here refers to a custom practised by an- 
cient tyrants, of binding a dead body to a captive 
as a punishment. The unfortunate wretch was 
compelled to associate with this cumbersome and 
offensive burden, and wherever the man went the 
corpse was by his side. But perhaps we are not 
obliged to accept this reference of the language. 
Still in some such way the apostle feels that this 
new life within us is chained down to the old 
man, to the dead body of our past sin and cor- 
ruption. We all, I think, are conscious, at times 
at least, of such an experience. 



THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 215 

But, thank God, we also know something of the 
experience of the opening of the eighth chapter 
of Romans, with its glowing words, which the 
apostle soon after wrote ; we know what it is to 
pass out of darkness, gloom, and death, and to 
strike this note of divine sweetness and holy tri- 
umph : "There is, therefore, now no condemnation 
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not 
after the flesh, but after the Spirit." We all have 
a damp, dark basement in our soul-house ; we all 
may also have a bright and beautiful balcony, re- 
splendent with the glory of heaven, standing in 
which we can look out over the fair earth, and 
we can rejoice in God's sunshine as it illumi- 
nates our faces ; a balcony where God's breezes 
kiss our cheek, cheering our hearts and inspiring 
our lives. I appeal to you now as you struggle in 
the fierce conflict, Shall the iron of our lower 
nature break the northern iron and the heavenly 
steel which God has put within us? Shall you, a 
child of God, an heir of heaven, and a joint-heir 
with Jesus Christ, take off your crown and trample 
it under your feet ? Shall you take off your robe 
of righteousness and let Satan defile it ? God for- 
bid. Shall the northern iron and the steel over- 
come the common iron ? God grant it. All that 
is precious and holy is rebuking and beseeching 
you, young men ; and all that is vile and Satanic 
is sneering in answer to the tender voice of all 
that is precious and holy. Oh, young men and 
women, reject the devil and all his temptations ; 



::: QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

and let :he mrthern iron and steel :: the de- 
nature have the victory. Say to Satan today, 
" Get thee behind me." and Satan will : for he is 
;. coward "-hen we are brave, and he is :rave only 
when ve are ctwards. Besyise yourself, man, if 
ever you have been a tool of Satan, a dupe of 
evil, a bit of common iron, when you might have 
been u:r:heru ir:n ami divine steel. 

SHAH THE WORLI ZOXQUZR THE CHUECH ? 

The principle of this proverb applies also to 
this question : Shall the world overcome the 
church ? There is war between the world and the 
church. There always has been; there always 
will be. They are implacable foes ; between them 
is an irrepressible tinnier. The Aycstle J :'.:\z 
taught us that if we are friends cz :he w:rli we 
must be enemies of Christ : ana. in turn, if we 
are friends jf Chris: ve must be f:es :f the world 



and dangerous tendencies. 



Shall then the world overtime the church? The 
world is only iron ; but, thank God, the church is 
northern iron and steel. The Lord himself taught 
us that he sent us out as sheep in the midst of 
wolves. The first time I had the measure of hear- 
ing Mr. Spurgeon, he emphasized the truth that 
the Master sent us out as sheep in the midst of 
wolves ; and further said, in substance, if we were 
to put one wolf in a flock of sheep we would en- 
danger the life of the entire flock ; but. in the di- 
vine olan, we may have one sheep put into a pack 



THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 217 

of wolves. Nevertheless we know that the sheep 
are mastering the wolves. It is conceivable that 
there shall be no wolves in the world one day ; it 
is experimental that there are sections of the 
country now in which there are no wolves. Timid 
and defenseless creature as the sheep is, yet, in 
the providence of God, the sheep is winning the 
victory over the wolf. Precisely so is it in the 
church of God. Dangerous as it would be to put a 
sheep into a pack of wolves, yet by the grace of 
God the wolves will eventually disappear and the 
sheep will indefinitely increase. Jesus said, " In 
the world ye shall have tribulation ; but be of good 
cheer ; I have overcome the world." Through 
him we also shall overcome the world. 

As a matter of fact the church is overcoming 
the world. Day by day the church is encroaching 
on the world's territory ; day by day the church 
is learning more and more fully her high and 
holy mission. The world has brought forth all her 
best swords to fight the truth and God ; but God 
has said of the church, " No weapon that is formed 
against thee shall prosper." The world has 
brought forth its mightiest hammers, but God has 
made the church an anvil that has worn out all 
the world's hammers. Representatives of infidel- 
ity, of Satan, of worldliness, bring on your ham- 
mers. Here is an anvil made of northern iron 
and steel, and your hammers are only common 
iron. Let them fall upon the anvil ; and you will 
see that it will wear them out, every one. If I 

T 



2l8 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

were an infidel I wonld throw down my hammers, 
I wonld close my month, and I would lay aside 
my pretensions ; for, as God lives, the church will 
overcome infidelity and all other forms of oppo- 
sition. There is a vast amount of clay mixed in 
the iron of this world, and one day its hammers 
will crumble ; but the anvil forged in the fires of 
eternity and hardened with heavenly iron and di- 
vine steel, will still remain after the hammers of 
the world have beaten themselves into dust. I 
have no more fear of the triumph of infidelity 
than I have of the death of God. As God lives 
his church shall live, and even the gates of hell 
shall not prevail against it. We may say with 
Lowell : 

And behind the dim unknown 

Standeth God within the shadow, 
Keeping watch above his own. 

God's church is the apple of his eye ; God's 
church is engraven on the palms of his hands, and 
he never closes his hand but he protects his church, 
and he never opens his hand but he sees the name 
of every one of his children. Blessed be God, his 
church shall evermore endure. 

SHALX SATAN OVERCOME CHRIST? 

The text has a still closer application in answer 
to the question : Shall Satan overcome the church ? 
The old dualism of the ancient Persians had in it 
an important truth. All the errors of heathenism 
have in them some elements of truth. Pure error 



THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 21 9 

must soon disintegrate ; it cannot long cohere. It 
is only the element of truth in error that holds it 
together. There is a truth in the Zoroastrian re- 
ligion regarding the conflict between light and 
darkness ; between Ahriman, the spirit of evil, 
and Orrnuzd, the spirit of good. The latter is the 
spirit of life and light ; and he wages unceasing 
warfare with Ahriman. The word of God gives 
us a progressive revelation of Satan ; in the 
temptation of the first Adam he was only a ser- 
pent ; then came the fuller manifestation of his 
character all through the Old Testament. Dur- 
ing the temptation of the second Adam he was a 
person in all the horrible deformities of his Satanic 
nature. Jesus Christ came into direct and per- 
sonal conflict with Satan. It was immediately 
after our Lord's baptism that the conflict began, 
just when the voice of God had been sounding in 
his ear, telling him that he was the Son of God. 
The pendulum of human experience swings from 
one extreme to another. Many a pastor has had 
times in the pulpit when he scarcely knew whether 
he was in the body or out of it ; times when his 
soul was bathed in heavenly splendor ; times when 
he felt the throbbing of the heart of Jesus Christ, 
and soon afterward he may have gone into the 
deep valley of despondency. 

I suppose there is a philosophy in those chang- 
ing times of joy and sorrow. Christ also had vary- 
ing experiences. He seems to have been exalted 
just after his baptism as never before in his life ; 



220 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

he seems to have realized then, as never before, 
that he was the Son of God. A new life was 
begun ; a glorious career was opening. Just then 
he had to go into the wilderness to be tempted of 
the devil ; so must you, so must we all. Christ's 
trial is a lesson of profoundest mystery, and at 
the same time one of glorious triumph. In those 
three temptations you have the essence of every 
temptation that ever comes to a child of God. In 
the first, we have a temptation to use divine 
power, given for a higher purpose, to satisfy 
human need. Every man in a bank or store, or 
in any other responsible position, has that tempta- 
tion ; he is tempted to use the opportunity for 
personal and selfish ends ; to use the trust that 
men repose in him to advance his own fortunes. 
"Command," said Satan, "that these stones be 
made bread." 

Christ had the power ; there were the little 
brown stones looking like loaves of bread. Men 
everywhere are tempted to use improper means to 
secure bread. When that temptation comes, say 
as did Christ, " Man shall not live by bread 
alone." 

In the second temptation we are taught that we 
have no right to tempt God ; but we have a right 
to trust God. If I expose myself unnecessarily to 
danger, making a spectacle of God's watchcare, I 
am tempting God. If duty calls me into danger 
I will go, and trust God, and so not tempt him. 

The last temptation is one that comes to every 



THE NORTHERN IRON AND STEEL 221 

living soul. It really means, " Worship Satan 
and all the kingdoms of the world shall be yours. 
Forge your name on this note and the needed 
money will be yours. Put a false ballot into the 
ballot-box, and this district and its honors shall be 
yours." Men, to-day, in this way bow down to 
worship Satan. Satan was a liar from the begin- 
ning ; he does not own this world ; he cannot 
deliver the kingdoms which he promises. In the 
end his dupes find themselves in the grip of law 
and under the lash of justice. 

What weapons did Christ use to overcome 
Satan? None but those which we may use. 
Glorious Christ ! My heart glows with enthu- 
siasm as I think how he overcame Satan. He 
used the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 
God. He used weapons that are within our 
reach, and he won victories that we may win. 
Oh, that to-day, with words of withering scorn, 
with words of holy triumph, with words of blight- 
ing, blasting indignation, you and I may say to 
Satan, "Get thee behind me, Satan." Satan 
never recovered from that defeat. Christ struck 
the sceptre from his hand and the crown from his 
brow. Satan left him, and angels ministered to 
him. Some say there is no Satan. That is a de- 
licious doctrine for devils. Nothing would please 
thieves and robbers more than to have it an- 
nounced that there are no thieves and robbers ; 
that would be a most popular doctrine in every 
evil den in this city. But Satan is like a roaring 



222 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

lion going about seeking whom he may devour ; 
but, thanks be to God, there is a Lion of the 
tribe of Judah who will overcome Satan's power. 
Though powerful, Satan is not omnipotent ; 
though wise, he is not omniscient ; though active, 
he is not omnipresent. Satan is more than a 
match for me ; but he is less than a match for 
Jesus. Heaven is above hell ; Christ is victor 
over Satan. And like the young men to whom 
the Apostle John wrote, it may be said of us, " Ye 
have overcome the wicked one." 

The principle of the text applies to those who 
are fighting against God. Men and women, do I 
see you to-day going into conflict with God ? My 
heart aches for you ; you are only common iron, 
and God is northern iron and steel. How dare a 
man contend with the Almi^htv? Hear the 
voice of Isaiah, "Woe unto him that striveth 
with his Maker ! " Can you tell me of a single 
man who ever opposed God and who triumphed ? 
Let man enter into conflict with man ; but let no 
man fight against God. Some of you are fighting 
against him to-day ; he is saying, " Submit now " ; 
he is saying, "Lay down your weapons"; and 
you will not do it. You are lifting your puny 
arms against the Almighty. Oh, the insanity of 
sin ! I once opposed God. Now I thank and 
bless him that he did not strike me down in his 
wrath, foolish youth that I was. God in heaven, 
help us now to cease our wicked strife, and to 
come as humble suppliants to thy feet ! 



XIV 

THE CHRISTLY MARKS 



' 'From he7iceforth let ?w ma?i trouble me ; for I bear in 
my body the ?narks of the Lord fesus. ' ' Gal. 6 : zy. 



XIV 

THIS has always seemed to me to be a very 
tender and touching passage of Scripture. 
It has a plaintiveness and sweetness peculiarly its 
own. The Apostle Paul found the Galatians, 
what all writers have agreed in styling them, a 
very fickle people. At the first they were de- 
votedly attached to the noble apostle. They re- 
ceived his instructions with the utmost confidence ; 
and they obeyed his commandments with the 
greatest heartiness. The apostle bears testimony 
to their love for him when he says, "I bear you 
record that if it had been possible, ye would have 
plucked out your own eyes and have given them 
to me," 

This testimony suggests, as many have sup- 
posed, that Paul's thorn in the flesh was weakness 
of the eyes ; it at least shows that the Galatians 
had formed a most ardent attachment for him as 
their teacher; but it shows also that their love 
was changeful, and that the time came when the 
apostle deeply regretted that they had been u so 
soon removed from him that called you into the 
grace of Christ unto another gospel." They were 
a people who had been rescued from heathenism 
of a peculiarly gross and debasing character. They 
worshiped the " mother of the gods " under names 

225 



226 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 



and forms that were utterly degrading. Heathen 
writers call them " a foolish people." They were, 
however, a great people physically. They were 
of three different tribes and nations, and are men- 
tioned by all historians as physically tall and 
brave and fierce in battle. Their fickleness was 
seen in that as soon as the apostle had left them 
they were turned away from the simplicity of the 
gospel. It is clear that Judaizing teachers went 
among them and induced them to observe the rites 
of the Jewish faith. These teachers claimed to 
have come directly from Jerusalem and to be act- 
ing under apostolic authority. They perverted 
the doctrine which the apostle had taught and 
affirmed that he was inferior to the apostles in 
Jerusalem. They endeavored to set at naught his 
authority because if he were an apostle at all he 
had been recently called to the apostolic office ; 
and they insisted that his teachings were inferior 
to those of the teachers in Jerusalem. They urged 
also that the laws of Moses were still obligatory, 
and they led many of the Galatians to submit to 
the distinctive Jewish rite and to observe some of 
the Jewish festivals. It is evident that great dis- 
cussions soon arose in the church and that direct 
instruction from the apostle was necessary to pre- 
vent the spreading of dissension among the peo- 
ple, and the possible dissolution of the church. 

The Apostle Paul shows clearly in this epistle 
that his commission was received immediately 
from God ; that he had not been instructed by 



THE CHRISTLY MARKS 227 

other apostles ; that he did not acknowledge their 
authority, and that he did not need to have ad- 
ditional proof of his apostleship. He claimed to 
rank with the highest apostles at Jerusalem. Al- 
though he had not seen Christ befoie his death, he 
was supernaturally ordained by him to his apos- 
tolic office. He did not hesitate to differ with 
Peter and even to rebuke him, when he was clearly 
wrong. He also in this epistle discusses the true 
nature of justification by faith, and shows that 
those who trust in the rites of Judaism dishonor 
the finished work of the Lord Jesus. Most glori- 
ously does he exalt Christ as the all- sufficient 
Saviour of men. In this connection he proves 
clearly, that the Mosaic ritual was only temporary 
in duration and introductory in design. Its high- 
est glory was that it was preparatory to the com- 
ing of Christ and was designed to lead to him for 
salvation. 

The controlling purpose of the apostle is to 
state and prove the true doctrine of justification 
by faith, and so he shows that even Abraham was 
justified by faith rather than by obedience to a 
ritual. We see clearly that the opposition made 
to the apostle caused him great sorrow. He has 
now reached the close of the epistle and he speaks 
with a tenderness which reaches the heart of every 
reader. He says, "From henceforth," that is for 
the remainder of my life, whether it be long or 
short, " let no man trouble me : for I bear in my 
body the marks of the L,ord Jesus." His call to 



228 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

the apostolic office had been questioned ; and his 
authority to explain and to defend the gospel had 
been doubted. Clearly does he vindicate himself 
at both of these points ; fully does he prove the 
divine authority of his commission ; exhaustively 
does he explain the great doctrine of justification 
by faith, showing that the law of Moses is no 
longer binding ; and now, in a tone of mingled 
authority, resignation, affection, and conscious in- 
jury, he begs them to give him no more trouble 
on these points. He surely had sorrow enough to 
bear. He reminds them, with varied and contra- 
dictory emotions, that there is another kind of 
proof of apostolic office and authority. It is a 
delicate proof for him to produce. The thought 
is as if he had said, " I have not before alluded to 
this form of proof. It is with hesitancy that I 
now mention it, but the circumstances of the case 
justify the delicate allusion. Look at me. Be- 
hold and see that I bear in my body the conclu- 
sive proofs of my apostleship. These marks I re- 
ceived in the service of my Lord. These wounds 
are witnesses that I am truly a soldier of the Cap- 
tain of our salvation, and an apostle of the Lord 
Jesus. I have need of your prayerful sympathy 
rather than of your critical comments and your 
captious opposition. It is almost humiliating to 
me that I have been compelled to vindicate my 
apostleship in this tender and personal way. Do 
you doubt my loyalty ? Let these ' stigmata \ be 
the answers to your carping criticisms. Suffering 



THE CHRISTLY MARKS 229 

as I do in my scarred and feeble body it is posi- 
tively painful to me to call attention to these deli- 
cate matters." 

Beloved hearers, this line of remark which I 
have put into the mouth of the apostle is very 
touching. It is an appeal which is gentle as it is 
mighty. It moves our hearts after the lapse of 
the centuries. It must have tenderly touched the 
fickle nature of these Galatians. It is indeed a 
touch both of nature and grace which makes the 
whole church of God kin. 

It is fitting that we should here ask what the 
apostle means by " the marks of the L,ord Jesus." 
The commentators call attention to the fact that 
the word stigmata, here translated marks, properly 
means the brands which were burnt into the body. 
It is well known that slaves were often branded 
in this way by their owners, so as to make their 
escape less likely, and to make their discovery 
more certain should they escape. We know also 
that devotees of certain idol-gods in the excite- 
ment of their fanatical devotion often imprinted 
upon their flesh images of the gods whom they 
adored. Herodotus is quoted as mentioning a 
temple of Hercules in Egypt, in which if any 
slave took refuge, and had the sacred stigmata 
placed upon him, he was ever afterward considered 
as devoted to the god whose image he bore, and 
no man could afterward lawfully injure him. 
Some have supposed that the Apostle Paul here 
referred to the image of the L,ord Jesus as im- 

u 



230 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

pressed upon him in a similar way ; others have 
supposed that he refers to the form of the cross as 
being impressed upon some part of his person. 
Romanists have wrongly used his language in the 
attempt to justify the most extravagant vagaries 
of their idolatrous beliefs in connection with the 
face and cross of the Lord Jesus. Such interpre- 
tations are fanciful. The apostle simply means to 
say that in the service of his Master he had re- 
ceived marks as the result of the sufferings which 
he had endured because of his loyal devotion. In 
2 Cor. 11 : 24, 25, he says, " Of the Jews five 
times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice 
was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice 
I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have 
been in the deep." In the succeeding verses he 
gives us an astonishing catalogue of his dangers 
from robbers, and of his perils in the city and in 
the sea. 

No one, in whose breast there is a heart and not 
a stone, can read without profound emotion the 
account which he gives. Doubtless it is to such 
experiences as these that he refers in the text. In 
his body then there were marks of his heroic 
service for Christ ; they were the witnesses of his 
apostolic commission and apostolic fervor. Some 
had in their body the marks of Jewish rites ; he 
the marks of Christian sen-ice. Some the images 
of idols whom they worshiped ; he the weals 
which he had received from scourges and rods in 
the hands of the enemies of his Master. How 



THE CHRISTLY MARKS 23 1 

could he possibly give more striking evidence of 
his devotion to Jesus ? A few weeks ago a brave 
soldier in our late war showed me with pride the 
scar which he bears of a wound received before 
Richmond in a decisive engagement. Of that 
scar he was rightfully proud. It was an evidence 
of his devotion to his country and his service in 
the preservation of the Union. Many an old 
soldier, on Memorial Day, points with pardonable 
pride to similar evidences of his devotion to his 
country and his sufferings in her honor. Lafay- 
ette, when struck in the foot by a musket ball at 
Germantown, said : " I prize this wound as among 
the most valuable of my honors." Without boast- 
ing, but with a justifiable pride, the Apostle Paul 
could point to the scourgings which he had re- 
ceived as the pledges of his consecration to the 
cause of the Iyord Jesus. Could any words more 
closely touch the tenderest spots of the heart than 
those which are my text this evening ? Chrysos- 
tom doubtless catches the true thought when he 
reminds us that Paul does not say, " I have," but 
" I bear " in my body. Paul bore these scars as 
one is proud of trophies. 

All Christians now should bear in some form 
the "marks of the Lord Jesus." They are not 
now called upon to suffer for their faith as was the 
Apostle Paul and as were the martyrs who fol- 
lowed him in Christian service ; but there are 
marks which we must bear or we have no evi- 
dence that we belong to Christ. There is a spirit 



232 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 



which we must possess and manifest, or we cannot 
prove that we are Christ's. What are some of 
the marks which we ought to bear, which men 
ought to see as the proofs that we are not our own 
but Christ's ? Such marks are worth more than 
all the honors which this world can bestow. The 
time is coming when the " marks of the Lord 
Jesus " will be worth more than ribbon or star in- 
dicating even the loftiest rank among men, worth 
more than ducal coronet or kingly crown. Do we 
possess these marks ? This question is the most 
important which can be asked of any human 
being. What then are some of the marks of the 
Lord Jesus which we ought to possess? But a 
few can be mentioned, but these are so inclusive 
that they imply the possession of others of like 
character. 

Obedience to the will of God is one of the dis- 
tinctive marks of the Lord Jesus which true Chris- 
tians possess. The obedience of Christ was un- 
questioning, unvarying, and unparalleled. It was 
the controlling characteristic of his earthly life. 
David, speaking in the fortieth Psalm as a type 
of Jesus, said, " Sacrifice and offering thou didst 
not desire ; mine ears hast thou opened : burnt- 
offering and sin offering hast thou not required. 
. . . Lo, I come : in the volume of the book 
it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, 
O my God : yea, thy law is within my heart." 
All the way from Bethlehem to Calvary the 
spirit of obedience to the will of God was one 



the: christly marks 233 

of the marks of the life of the L,ord Jesus. At 
the age of twelve this mark was clearly seen 
when he said to his parents, who found him after 
seeking him with anxiety, " How is it that ye 
sought me ? wist ye not that I must be about my 
Father's business ? ' ' Already the solemn duties 
and the sublime achievements of his earthly life 
were pressing upon his boyish mind and heart. 
This sense of obedience is one of the distinctive 
characteristics of the L,ord in connection with his 
baptism. When John hesitated to baptize his 
L<ord, the answer of the L,ord was, " Suffer it to 
be so now ; for thus it becometh us to fulfill all 
righteousness." How should the pure and holy 
Son of God submit to an ordinance which is the 
sinner's and not the Saviour's ordinance? He 
took upon himself our nature, not only that he 
might be " made sin for us," but also that he 
might set us a perfect example of obedience to the 
law of God. Had he refused to submit to the act 
of baptism he would have left incomplete the per- 
fect righteousness which he came to manifest. 
He shows that this act of holy obedience should 
be performed by every true disciple, and that its 
neglect leaves something of the required righteous- 
ness unfulfilled. For the time being, he took a 
subordinate place, making John the Baptist the 
actor, while Jesus, the Christ, was the recipient of 
the divine ordinance. The Apostle Paul in Ro- 
mans 5 : 19 teaches us that, "As by one man's 
disobedience many were made sinners, so by the 



234 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

obedience of one shall many be made righteous" ; 
and in Hebrews 5 : 8 we have the striking words, 
' ' Though he were a Son yet learned he obedience 
by the things which he suffered." The same 
spirit of obedience was gloriously shown in Geth- 
semane when he submitted to the will of God by 
drinking to its dregs the painful cup. The Apos- 
tle Paul in writing to the Philippians emphasizes 
the thought that Christ became obedient unto 
death, even the death of the cross. His exalta- 
tion to the right hand of God stands in close rela- 
tion to his ignominious humiliation on the cross. 
This spirit of obedience is one of the marks of 
the Lord Jesus which we ought to possess. We 
are commanded to repent and be baptized. We 
dare not separate between these divine commands. 
Both are personal acts, and both should receive 
our prompt and joyful obedience. We are to be- 
lieve in the Lord Jesus and to confess him before 
men, are to accept and to declare his righteousness. 
We ought never to ask : Is this or that command 
essential to salvation? To us the voice of the 
Master comes saying, in response to our querulous 
questioning regarding the essentiality of this or 
that command, ' ' What is that to thee ? follow 
thou me." Finely does Matthew Henry say : "It 
ought to be the great care of even- one of us to 
follow the Lord fully. We must in a course of 
obedience to God's will and service to his honor, 
follow him universally without dividing ; up- 
rightly, without dissembling ; cheerfully, without 



THE CHRISTXY MARKS 235 

disputing; and constantly, without declining: 
and this is following him fully." 

We must obey although we do not fully know 
the reason for the divine requirement. God 
knows best, and our fullest wisdom is in accepting 
his will as our highest law. The first obligation 
of the Order of St. Francis was unquestioning 
submission to the authority of the superior. We 
are told that when a monk proved refractory a 
grave was dug deep enough to enable a man to 
stand therein. The disobedient monk was put 
into it and his associates shovelled in the earth, 
while the superior looked on without an emotion 
of tenderness. The earth reaches the knees of 
the stubborn monk. The superior stooping down 
asked, " Are you dead yet ? " There was no 
answer. The burial went on until the earth 
reached to the waist, to the shoulders, and finally 
to the lips. Once more the superior bending 
down asked, " Are you dead yet ? " A little more 
dirt thrown into the grave, and the rebellious 
monk would be suffocated. No longer might he 
resist. The iron will of the superior could not 
be broken ; that of the monk must yield, or 
death would be his fate. " I am dead," said he, 
and his release was immediately ordered. In a 
higher and nobler sense we are to be dead to self, 
sin, and the world, and we are to be alive to duty 
and to Christ. We are his only as we do his com- 
mandments ; obedience alone proves our friend- 
ship to him and our true discipleship in his 



236 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

church. His own words are : "If ye love me, 
keep my commandments." 

Only as our faith takes the form of practical 
obedience is it helpful to us or acceptable to 
God. Noble was the spirit of the Roman com- 
mander who forbade a battle with the enemy, and 
whose son challenged and defeated that enemy, 
and who, when the son came in triumph carrying 
the spoils won from the enemy, refused to give 
him honor because he had disobeyed his father's 
and commander's orders. Even though his diso- 
bedience resulted in victory it was more worthy 
of death than honor. Beautiful were the words 
spoken by the mother of Jesus when she said to 
the servants at the marriage in Cana, ' ' Whatso- 
ever he saith unto you, do it." These words 
might be written on the first page of every Bible, 
over the vestibule of every church, over the head 
of every preacher, and in the heart of every dis- 
ciple. Beautiful the words of the old prophet, 
" To obey is better than sacrifice." What is it to 
be a Christian ? This : To obey Jesus Christ. 
Obedience proves faith, love, joy, and every grace. 

Another mark is a life of holy zeal in the cause 
of God and man. This mark is kindred to the 
one already presented. Christ's life gives us many 
illustrations of this characteristic. In Mark 3 : 
21, we read that his friends said, ll He is beside 
himself." They could not understand the spirit 
which prompted his unresisting service in the 
cause of God. We read of his performing mira- 



THK CHRISTLY MARKS 237 

cles during the day and retiring to the mountain 
to pray during the hours of the night. He spent 
the night in prayer before calling his twelve 
apostles. He often spent many hours in silent 
communion with God. Men could not under- 
stand the secret of his all-consuming zeal. His 
life was summed up in the most suggestive re- 
mark, " He went about doing good." The world 
knows us not because it knew him not. Men 
now call devoted, enthusiastic, zealous, and con- 
secrated Christians fanatics and fools. Christ 
showed us that true enthusiasm in religion is the 
highest reason. If we truly believed what we 
profess we would be amazed at our coldness in the 
cause of God. Christ worked and prayed until 
after the sun had set, and then we are told that he 
arose a great while before dawn to resume his 
works of love to men and of obedience to God. 
The Son of Man said of himself, "I must work 
the works of him that sent me while it is called 
day." 

The most dangerous of all " isms " in the church 
of God is indifferentism. The most fervent Chris- 
tian is amazed at his own lack of fervor. How 
can we be indifferent when men about us are 
without God and without hope ? True zeal is one 
of the noblest elements of power in the Christian 
life. It is the highest Christian principle set on 
fire by divine love. It is love fanned to a white 
heat. A Christian without zeal is a sacrifice with- 
out fire. Zeal drives the disciple to an unflagging 



238 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

and ever joyous service. It made Whitefield and 
Wesley mightier than Butler and Watson al- 
though their inferiors in mental attainment. We 
need this zeal to-day to melt the icebergs, and to 
burn up the hay, wood, and stubble in our 
churches. Oh, for a burning devotion, for a fiery 
zeal, for a quenchless love ! A sleeping church 
is the devil's best ally. We are told that when 
Napoleou invaded Egypt, he met a force pro- 
tected by a mud fort. This fort defied all his 
efforts. If it had been rock, he would have 
blown it up with powder ; if it had been wood, 
he would have fired it with rockets ; but it was 
mud. The missies he hurled into it increased its 
power of resistance. It is said that he left it in 
despair. A sleeping church is a mud fort. God 
help us to awake and to put on our strength, and 
to do our duty as followers of the Lord Jesus ! 
In all our churches there are to-day sleeping 
Christians. Oh, if we could but appreciate the 
value of a soul ! If we could, as the seraphic 
Surnmerfield said, " take a look into eternity," 
how we would beseech men to be reconciled unto 
God ! And in some measure can we not ? Has 
not our Lord placed before us the means of doing 
this ? What is the parable of Dives and Lazarus 
but such a look ? The fact that it fell from the 
Christ's lips should make it throb with meaning 
for us, and this meaning should make us earnest 
for others. Vain the inward longings for relief 
then : Vain the prayers for others' rescue. Now, 



THK CHRISTLY MARKS 239 

now, is the day of salvation. Now alone will our 
efforts avail anything. 

While life prolongs its precious light, 
Mercy is found and peace is given. 

God help us to carry the one and the other to 
men, that neither for them nor for us the here- 
after may be marked by an eternal regret. 

We need the mark of self-sacrifice, a life not 
lived for itself, but for God and for man. This 
truth Christ taught from the cradle to the grave, 
taught in words and in acts. When we become 
Christians we profess to die to self. We profess 
that our body, soul, and spirit are Christ's. We 
declare that we have been bought with a price, 
and that we are bound to serve God in our bodies 
and spirits. We cannot have any proof for our- 
selves or for others that we are Christ's except as 
some of these marks are found upon us. 

The best proof that we are Christians is that 
we are Christlike. We ought not to be obliged 
to give evidence that we are Christians ; our lives 
in themselves ought to be such evidences. There 
is irresistible power in the possession of these 
marks of the L,ord Jesus. No one can long mis- 
interpret their testimony. They are self-evidenc- 
ing proof that we have passed from death unto 
life. Oh, to-day bow at the cross, and receive 
Christ as your personal Saviour ! L,et this act of 
obedience be the first mark in your soul. Then 
ask with Paul on the Damascus highway, " Lord, 



240 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

what wilt thou have me to do ? " Then run with 
joy in the way of Christ's commandments, and 
when men ask us questions, carping, unreasonable, 
unanswerable questions, each can say with deep 
humility, with holy joy, and with conclusive 
argument, ' ' Henceforth let no man trouble me : 
for I bear in my body the marks of the L,ord 
Jesus." 



XV 
THE LEARNED TONGUE 



' ' The Lord God hath given me the tongue of the learned, 
that I should know how to speak a word in season to him 
that is weary" etc., etc. Isa. jo : 4-Q. 



XV 

WITH the beginning of the fourth verse of 
this chapter, a speaker is introduced who 
makes great claims for himself. He asserts that 
he is eminently qualified for the office to which 
he is called ; that he is amply endowed of God ; 
that he will meet the fierce opposition to which 
he is exposed with great meekness, and that he 
will finally triumph over all opposition because 
his trust is in God and in him alone. The best 
interpretation, however, is that which makes this 
speaker none other than the Messiah. It cannot 
be denied that all that is here said naturally ap- 
plies to Christ. Every description of his humili- 
ation and meekness, of the opposition which he 
encounters, of the faith which he exercises, and 
of the victory which he finally secures, applies 
with exactness to Jesus Christ. Indeed, some 
parts of this description can by no possibility, ex- 
cept by a violation of all reasonable rules of inter- 
pretation, be applied to any other than the Messiah. 
All doubt regarding the application of any Old Tes- 
tament prophecy is removed when we find Christ 
making the application to himself. In L,uke 18 : 
31 our Iyord applies these prophecies to himself. 
These words are a literal fulfillment of this ancient 
prophecy. We know too, that he was perfectly 

243 



244 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

endowed to perform the work which is attributed 
to the speaker introduced in the text ; we know 
that Christ was entirely obedient to God ; that he 
submitted to all the injuries inflicted on him ; that 
he endured the opposition of men trusting in God ; 
and, in a word, that all these prophecies have in 
him, and in him only, their complete fulfillment. 

We have then, in the first place, Jesus Christ 
brought before us in the fourth verse as a great 
Preacher. We are accustomed to think of Christ 
as a preacher in connection with the Sermon on 
the Mount, and with the delivery of his parables, 
and with other teachings recorded in the New 
Testament. It is at first blush somewhat startling 
to find Christ described as a great preacher in a 
passage in Isaiah. We know that Isaiah was the 
most evangelical of all the prophets ; that he saw 
the glory of the coming Christ as no other prophet 
of his time, and that he described events which 
were to occur in the ministry of the Messiah as if 
he was in their midst at the time of their occur- 
rence. He places himself constantly in the very 
time of the events which he narrates ; this method 
of description is somewhat peculiar to Isaiah. We 
have other instances in the Old Testament, as in 
the case of the "angel of the Lord" who preached 
at Bochim, of the preaching of Christ in that 
early day. In like manner we have him intro- 
duced to us as a great preacher in this passage in 
Isaiah. 

The first characteristic of Christ as a great 



THE LEARNED TONGUE 245 

preacher is that he has " the tongue of the learned." 
The more literal rendering of the phrase is, the 
tongue of those who are instructed, or the tongue 
of the truly eloquent. The entire passage shows 
us that Christ was endowed of God in a remark- 
able manner. It is evident that the reference 
here is not to the knowledge of human science, 
but to the knowledge of that higher and nobler 
science, the science of salvation. Touching that 
matter he was qualified as never was man before 
or since ; he was endowed with supernatural knowl- 
edge and unparalleled eloquence. He made known 
the will of God as one who had dwelt in the bosom 
of God. He spoke of the spiritual world as one 
who had long dwelt there, and was as familiar with 
eternity as with time. Never man spake as did 
Jesus Christ touching all matters spiritual. He en- 
forced the claims of God with sublime simplicity, 
with tearful tenderness, and with awful authority. 
All his discourses prove the superiority of his 
knowledge, the tenderness of his spirit, and the 
affection of his heart. No one can read his dis- 
courses, and especially *the Sermon on the Mount, 
without feeling that he is breathing a new at- 
mosphere, looking upon a new world, and hear- 
ing the divinest man who ever visited this earth. 
The Sermon on the Mount is matchless. It 
lifts itself above all human discourses as a veri- 
table Mont Blanc. His other discourses stand 
around this mountain peak as the white-robed sis- 
ter mountains stand around Mont Blanc, their 



246 QUICK TRUTHS IN OUAINT TEXTS 

peerless queen. All who are Christ's disciples may- 
share in his knowledge of God, and in his elo- 
quence toward men. Good Matthew Henry has 
well said that God made man's mouth, and God 
alone can make it eloquent. We know that God 
made the speech of the hesitating Moses mighty 
to terrify and to subdue Pharaoh ; and God made 
the words of Paul mighty to the pulling down of the 
strongholds of sin. All great thinkers on relig- 
ious things catch their inspiration and receive 
their instruction from Christ who stands in the 
foremost place among the thinkers and teachers 
of the world. 

Another characteristic of Christ as a great 
preacher is here given. He knew ' ' how to speak 
a word in season." The Hebrew here is " that he 
might know how to strengthen with a word the 
weary." Christ knew how to sustain, to comfort, 
and to refresh weary souls by his wise counsels 
and by his precious promises. He knew how to 
lift the burden from hearts weary with care and 
laden with sin. He knew how to lessen the sor- 
rows of life ; how to impart the comforts of the 
divine presence, peace and power. Whether the 
weary were burdened with sin or with the inevi- 
table sorrows of life, he knew how to lighten the 
load or to increase the strength. 

There is marvelous power in a sympathetic 
word. Too little do we appreciate its influence, 
and too seldom do we impart its blessings. There 
is a sanctified tact which is as rare as it is desirable. 



THE LEARNED TONGUE 247 

The ' 'golden rule ' ' is the highest law of etiquette. 
Men who learn to practise this rule learn the secret 
of gentlemanly courtesy, because they have felt 
the impulses of Christian affection. Grace was 
poured from Christ's lips, partly because a sym- 
pathetic heart beat in his bosom. His whole life 
is an illustration of these truths. He came to re- 
move burdens by forgiving transgressions. He 
learned obedience himself by the things which he 
suffered. He knew how to say, " Come unto me, 
all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will 
give you rest." The sight of thousands groaning 
under their burdens was enough to break his lov- 
ing heart ; but he taught us to cast our burdens 
upon him- assuring us that he cared for us and 
would sustain us. 

He knew how to speak the seasonable word to 
those burdened with the intellectual doubts con- 
nected with religious faith and providential expe- 
rience. His hand swept every chord of the human 
heart. There were times in his own life when he 
seemed to stand over great chasms of darkness 
and doubt connected with God's dealings with 
men. Precious thoughts are suggested by Christ's 
sympathy with those burdened with the intellect- 
ual mysteries of revelation and of experience. 
In all times of doubt we can take his hand, kneel 
at his feet, and say with him, " Even so, Father, 
for so it seemed good in thy sight." If men bur- 
dened with intellectual difficulties would but cast 
themselves at his feet, he would take them and 



248 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

their difficulties and carry both, giving them 
sweet peace, clear vision, and joyous faith. 

He knows also how to bear the burdens of mor- 
tal infirmities. He knew what it was to be weary 
in body with the toils of the day ; what it was to 
lay his head upon the wooden pillow in the 
hinder part of the ship and sleep the sleep of utter 
weariness. It is true he did not know by personal 
experience the infirmities brought on by old age, 
but it is quite "certain that he knew them by his 
broad sympathy and by his appreciative affection. 
Never was there a burden-bearer like Jesus Christ. 
He knows how to speak peace to the sorrowing. 
He calls his sheep by name. He speaks to each 
believer with a select, a special, a discriminating 
tenderness. We may say to every burdened soul : 

Thou art as much his care as if beside 

Nor man, nor angel lived in all the earth ; 

The sunbeams pour alike their glorious tide 
To light a world, or wake an insect' s birth ; 

They shine and shine with unexhausted store ; 

Thou art thy Saviour's darling — seek no more. 

Every minister, and every other worker for Christ, 
should have this sanctified endowment in some 
measure at least. It should be coveted as one 
of the best gifts ; it may be possessed partially by 
all believers, and it may become an element of 
almost irresistible power. 

Another characteristic of Christ as a great 
preacher was that he had an open ear for instruc- 
tion : "He wakeneth morning by morning: he 



THE LEARNED TONGUE 249 

wakeneth mine ear to hear as the learned." The 
thought here is of a pupil wakened early every 
morning to receive instruction from his teacher. 
As applied to Christ the teaching is that he was 
eminently endowed by divine instruction for his 
redemptive work ; that he could teach men as 
one who was himself taught in the school of God ; 
that he could wisely impart because he daily re- 
ceived wisdom from God. He was attentive to 
the divine commands, and so was able to impart 
divine truth. Taught of God, he was thoroughly 
qualified to teach men. A docile disciple of God, 
he was fitted to be an authoritative teacher of 
men. 

The open ear is as important for a religious 
teacher as the ready tongue. The man who is to 
teach his fellow-men must be a willing pupil 
awakened by God morning by morning, as an 
earthly schoolmaster arouses his pupils and gives 
them necessary instruction. Unless we have an 
open ear to hear God's voice, a ready tongue in 
teaching men is a source of evil rather than of good. 
Christ received that he might bestow. In one 
hemisphere of his life, heart and hand were open 
to receive from God; in the. other hemisphere, 
they were open to impart to men. He who is 
to preach the preaching which God bids, must re- 
ceive the teaching which God gives. No man 
can claim the authority rightly belonging to a 
teacher, except he have first rendered the obedi- 
ence rightly claimed of a disciple. It is instruct- 



250 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

ive also to observe that this teaching was a daily 
privilege and duty ; this docile pupil was awak- 
ened morning by morning to receive instruction. 
Every day requires new wisdom for new respon- 
sibilities ; every day needs a new baptism of 
grace and strength for new duties and burdens. 
Strength for the day is to be imparted by the day. 
Happy is that man w T ho begins every day with 
God ; who gives his first thoughts into God's 
bosom and receives from God's lips his first com- 
mand for the day's duties. 

We behold, in the second place, from verses five 
and six, Christ as a submissive sufferer. "The 
Lord God hath opened mine ear, and I was not 
rebellious, neither turned away back. I gave my 
back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that 
plucked off the hair ; I hid not my face from 
shame and spitting." Christ willingly undertook 
the solemn and blessed task of making God 
known to men. He was in himself the Incar- 
nate Word ; he was God. He came not to do his 
own will, but the will of God who had sent him ; 
he came to bear all forms of trial, and to suffer all 
kinds of reproach. One might have supposed 
that a preacher such as has been described would 
receive at once the submission, homage, and affec- 
tion of his hearers. One might have expected 
that in com ins: to earth all men would hasten to 
la}* their willing service at the feet of the Lord's 
Christ. But it was far otherwise. When the Son 
came, men said, " This is the heir, let us kill him." 



THE LEARNED TONGUE 25 1 

Perhaps it would not be otherwise to-day should 
the Son of God visit this city and other cities in 
our land and in the world ! Men now would 
oppose, deride, and possibly crucify the I^ord of 
glory. 

We have in these two verses a statement of 
Christ's experimental knowledge of God's instruc- 
tion. "The Lord God hath opened mine ear." 
Experimental knowledge is the profoundest knowl- 
edge possible to men. Indeed it is the only knowl- 
edge which is truly worthy the name. All other 
knowledge is superficial. As the word itself im- 
plies, it is knowledge that conies out of us because 
it has first gone through and through us ; it is 
knowledge that has come to us as the result of 
actual trial. It is the deepest, broadest, highest, 
and truest of all forms of knowledge. Experi- 
mental preaching is sometimes spoken of with 
depreciation and occasionally with a sneer ; but it 
is preaching that is high as heaven and deep as 
hell. It is preaching which, in a sense, is as deep 
and high as the love of God himself. It is the 
most unanswerable of all kinds of argumentative 
instruction. Thrice happy is he who knows God 
in this experimental way. 

All the Pharisees in Jerusalem could not make 
the man who once was blind and was cured by 
Jesus doubt the reality of that cure. They might 
perplex him regarding many difficult questions, but 
he who knew that once he was blind and that now 
he saw, could stand on that knowledge as firmly 



252 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

as on the everlasting rock. Would to God that all 
to whom these words come might know Jesus 
Christ by a personal experience ! This is not to 
know about Christ, but it is to know Christ ; it is 
to enter into his life, to catch his spirit, and to be 
made over again in his image ! 

We also have here an expression of the Mes- 
siah's loyal service. " I was not rebellious neither 
turned away back." Christ clearly foresaw the 
difficulties he must encounter ; he knew that he 
was to be despised and rejected of men ; he knew 
that he was to be a man of sorrows and acquainted 
with grief; but he pressed forward bearing every 
burden and discharging every duty. We are to 
follow his example in this respect as in all other 
relations of life. The man who fears difficulties 
will never accomplish impossibilities. There is 
apparently a solid wall across every path of duty, 
but as we walk up to it we see the cleavage, and 
as we resolutely approach it the wall parts and 
we pass through. Those who follow God into 
the Red Sea of difficulties will see that sea rising 
in crystal walls on each side of their path while 
they walk onward on dry land. 

We have here also an illustration* of our Lord's 
patient obedience. He submitted to be scourged, 
giving his back to the smiters. He submitted to 
be buffeted, giving his cheeks to them that 
plucked off the hair ; he endured the humiliation 
of being spat upon, hiding not his face from shame 
and spitting. He thus received the greatest indig- 



THE LEARNED TONGUE 253 

nity and the highest insult that could be con- 
ceived among an Oriental people. To cut off the 
beard or to pluck it out was an insult which no 
words could adequately describe. To be spat upon, 
or even to spit in the presence of an Oriental, was 
an insult of the most degrading character. But 
these acts of indignity were inflicted on the meek 
and lowly Christ. One's heart grows tender as 
he thinks of the indignities which the Lord en- 
dured on our behalf. What have we done for him 
who endured so much for us? Was there ever 
sufferer so innocent, so patient, and so heroic as 
Jesus Christ ? Seeing and knowing all that his 
incarnation implied, he came willingly into our 
world, assumed our nature, bore our sins, and died 
the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to 
God. Oh, that the sight of this submissive suf- 
ferer might awaken your love, arouse your con- 
science, and finally consecrate your lives to his 
holy service ! O divine Saviour and august Suf- 
ferer, may thine example rebuke our coldness and 
lead us to lay ourselves in sweet submission at thy 
pierced feet. 

In verses seven, eight, and nine we behold, in 
the third place, Christ as a triumphant Conqueror. 
Christ was the Lamb slain from before the founda- 
tion of the world ; still he was evermore the Lion 
of the tribe of Judah. He was anointed with 
the oil of gladness s above his fellows ; still he was 
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. We 
love to think of Christ in both of these characters, 

w 



254 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

at both extremes of human experience, as both 
weak and helpless, and as mighty and glorious. 
We like a God of power, a God who can bring 
things to pass, a God who can confound his foes and 
glorify his friends. We have here the Messiah's 
confidence in God. w The Lord God will help 
me." He knew that because of the divine help 
he would not be confounded and that he would 
finally triumph over all his foes. God gloriously 
helps those who trust in him, and who confidently 
walk in the path of obedience. 

The Messiah realized that " he is near who jus- 
tifieth me." He would, therefore, set his face 
like a flint, and he could resolutely defy the con- 
tempt and scorn of all his foes. God was near 
him in every hour of trial and justified him in 
every experience of human derision and falsity. 
God proved him to be righteous, vindicated 
his character, and declared his innocence in the 
face of every earthly foe. At his baptism God, 
by an audible voice, declared him to be the be- 
loved Son. In all his miracles, God showed that 
they were wrought by his power. At his trial, 
Pilate declared him to be innocent ; even Pilate's 
wife, that noble Roman lady who was loyal to him 
when disciples fled, declared that he was a just 
man. The Roman centurion who attended his 
crucifixion, affirmed that he was a Son of God. 
His resurrection declared him to be the Son of 
God with power. God thus approved his course, 
vindicated his character, and confirmed his claims. 



THE LEARNED TONGUE 255 

Well may he here defy his foes, challenging any 
man to contend with him. His confidence in God 
is unshaken, and his assurance in his own integ- 
rity is unquestioned. The language here em- 
ployed is suggested by trials in courts of justice. 
It is a solemn call upon any legal adversary to en- 
ter the tribunal and prefer his accusation against 
the Messiah. He is willing to meet such an ad- 
versary in the lists. He dares him to a trial of 
strength and skill ; he challenges him to enter a 
legal action against him. He is assured that he 
can put all disputants to silence. He is willing to 
meet foot to foot, or shoulder to shoulder, with any 
adversary who dares contend with him. 

Claims such as these every believer may make. 
Christ speaks in their name ; he speaks as their 
fearless champion. Who dares be an enemy to 
those to whom Christ is a friend ? Who dares con- 
tend with him for whom Christ appears as advo- 
cate ? Let us once more ring out the defiant chal- 
lenge of the Apostle Paul, " Who shall lay any- 
thing to the charge of God's elect ? ' ' These are 
stirring words. They sound like the blast of 
a trumpet; they stir the blood like strains of 
martial music. We have been too timid and mod- 
est ; we have too often asked the pardon of all 
creation for daring to be followers of the Lord 
Jesus. We ought to defy the world, the flesh, and 
the devil. We owe the devil nothing but con- 
tempt and disobedience. Christ overcame him, 
and in Christ we also may overcome. All our 



256 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

enemies, as we are here taught, "shall wax old as 
a garment " ; and the L,ord Christ shall survive all 
their opposition. His cause shall live and his 
truth shall triumph, but his foes shall perish. 

Once more we stand in the presence of this 
divine preacher, Let the voice of the earthly 
preacher be forgotten ; let his presence be unseen. 
Behold him who spake as never man spake ; be- 
hold him in all the glory of his humanity, and in 
all the immaculate purity of his divinity. Behold 
him as the babe in Bethlehem, as the boy in Jeru- 
salem, as the beloved Son in the waters of baptism, 
as the divine physician and as the good shepherd. 
Behold him bowing in Gethsemane's garden, hang- 
ing on Calvary's cross, rising from Joseph's tomb, 
and ascending to his vacant place on the Father's 
throne ! I ask you, in his sacred presence and by 
his divine authority, " What will ye do with 
Jesus, who is called the Christ ? " Oh, receive him 
as your Saviour. Sit at his feet as your divine 
teacher, then you also shall have the tongue of 
the learned, shall speak seasonable words to the 
weary, and shall finally triumph over every adver- 
sary, coming off more than conquerors through 
him who has loved you and given himself for you. 



XVI 
THE HURRYING ANGEL 



". . . Run, speak to this young man. . ." Zecha- 

riah 2 : 4. 



XVI 

WE see by the sixteenth verse of the preceding 
chapter that the prophet was instructed to 
tell the people that a line should be stretched forth 
upon Jerusalem ; in the immediate context we see 
that this prophecy was fulfilled. In vision the 
prophet sees a man going forth to measure Jerusa- 
lem. This sight naturally awakens his curiosity. 
We know that Nehemiah received a commission 
from Artaxerxes L,ongimanus to build up the 
walls of Jerusalem. It was expected that so 
numerous would the inhabitants be that they 
could not be contained within the ancient limits 
of the city. Just as Moscow, Quebec, and other 
walled cities of the world have greatly overflowed 
their original limits, so would this larger Jerusa- 
lem overflow the limits of the earlier time and 
city. The sight of the man with the measuring 
line leads to earnest inquiry. Perhaps the man 
thus seen was Nehemiah. The thought indeed 
may be lifted to the true Master Builder for his 
church, he who builds by the line, the square, and 
the level. In answer to the prophet's inquiry, the 
reply comes that the man seen with the measur- 
ing line is going forth to measure Jerusalem. 

You will observe that one angel talked with the 
prophet, and soon another angel came forth, it 

259 



26o QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

may be from the Lord, to meet him and to tell 
him to hasten to the yonng man who has the 
measuring line, informing him that it is unneces- 
sary to measure the old limits of the city. Who 
the young man in the text is, is a matter of con- 
siderable dispute. Some affirm that he is the 
prophet Zechariah, others that he is the "man 
with a measuring line," referred to in the first 
verse. The design of the whole scene is to im- 
press the mind of the prophet with the great pro- 
mise of God respecting the growth of the new 
city in itself, and especially of that city as pro- 
phetic of the spiritual Zion of which it was the 
earthly symbol. One angel desired the other to 
explain the vision to the young man lest it should 
awaken fear in his mind. So urgent is this mes- 
sage that he exclaims to the other, in the words of 
the text, "Run, speak to this young man." Let 
us consider this remarkable message, beginning 
with the latter rather than the earlier part of the 
same. 

It is to be noticed, in the first place, that it is a 
message from one angel to another on behalf 
of a particular young man, "Run, speak to this 
young many We need not be surprised that 
angels are represented as taking so great an inter- 
est in this particular young man. We are distinctly 
taught that they are "all ministering spirits sent 
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of 
salvation." In the particular instance before us, 
their ministry was on behalf of a young man who 



THE HURRYING ANGEL 26l 

was a prophet, if the latter interpretation above 
given as to the young man is correct. The name 
Zechariah signifies " one whom Jehovah remem- 
bers." He seems to have entered upon his office 
in his early youth. But God honored him by 
giving him his mission in an interesting period in 
the history of Israel. His mission had a special 
reference to the affairs of his countrymen, who 
had been restored to their own land. He exer- 
cised the priestly, as well as the prophetic, office, 
as is generally supposed. He was called of God 
to stir up the flagging zeal of the people that their 
restoration to their own land and their work in 
rebuilding the temple might be a time of national 
enthusiasm and religious consecration. The angel 
desired to comfort him in his perplexity regarding 
the vision of the man with the measuring line. 

We may be well assured that angels care for 
young men and women ; in this respect angels 
exercise sound common sense. Young men and 
women are worth caring for ; and the church that 
is indifferent to them is unworthy of the divine 
Master. Jesus Christ gave the life-blood of a 
young man for the salvation of the world. Great 
numbers of young men and women have achieved 
in early youth wonderful things for God and hu- 
manity. In the nature of the case comparatively 
young Christians must be leaders in the great 
movements for Christ and the church. This truth 
is wonderfully illustrated in the great organiza- 
tions of young people in the churches of to-day — 



262 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

the Kp worth League, the Baptist Young People's 
Union, and the Christian Endeavor Societies, all 
organizations of mighty and of even incalculable 
power. The activity of young men and women 
is one of the marked features in the religious his- 
tory of the hour. It is a movement which will 
grow to still greater dimensions during the clos- 
ing years of the present century. 

Comparatively few appreciate how much of the 
world's work has been done by men and women 
while still young. This remark applies to literary, 
as well as to distinctively religious, achievements. 
We know that Byron and Raphael died at .thirty- 
seven after having made for themselves imperish- 
able names. Raphael's death occurred on his 
thirty-seventh birthday. As his " Transfigura- 
tion " was his greatest, so it was his last work. 
It was carried before his funeral procession 
through the streets of Rome when his body was 
borne to the Pantheon. We know that Jefferson 
was chosen to draft the Declaration of Indepen- 
dence when he was but thirty-three ; that Payne 
wrote his " Home, Sweet Home " before he was 
thirty ; that Southey composed more verses before 
he was thirty than he afterward wrote during his 
long life of letters ; that Robert Pollock wrote 
his "Course of Time" before he was twenty- 
eight ; that Toplady wrote his " Rock of Ages," 
a hymn which will make his name immortal, at 
twenty-seven ; that Napoleon at twenty-seven 
executed his great march into Italy,- winning the 



THE HURRYING ANGEL 263 

right to be considered the foremost captain of the 
world ; that Calvin at twenty-seven wrote his im- 
mortal " Institutes," which have so largely shaped 
the religious thinking of the church ; that 
Dickens gave us his u Oliver Twist" at twenty- 
six ; that at twenty-five Luther had attained fame 
as a Reformer, and Newton made some of his 
great discoveries before he was twenty-five ; that 
Whitefield attained fame as a preacher and leader 
in revivals at twenty-four ; that John Milton before 
twenty-four did much of his imperishable work ; 
and that at the same age Ruskin wrote his five 
volumes of u Modern Painters"; that Words- 
worth at twenty-three published his " Descriptive 
Sketches " ; that at twenty-two Longfellow was 
a university professor, and had already written 
some of his noblest poems, and that Lowell at the 
same age published his first volume ; that Pope at 
twenty-one wrote his " Essay on Criticism," that 
at twenty-one Melancthon gained the Greek chair 
at Wittenberg, and at the same age Henry Kirke 
White had already written his name high among 
the poets of the world ; that Pitt, Bolingbroke, 
and Gladstone were members of Parliament 
almost before they had attained their majority ; 
that Campbell wrote his " Pleasures of Hope " at 
twenty-one, and at the same age Robert Brown- 
ing his "Pauline"; that the fabled Romulus 
founded Rome at twenty ; that Euripides wrote a 
tragedy of rare merit at eighteen, and Tasso his 
" Rinaldo " at the same age ; that at eighteen 



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Alexander the Great won distinction in battle and 
at twenty-one ruled the world ; that Tennyson 
wrote his first volume at the same age, and at 
nineteen gained a medal at Cambridge ; that 
while still in his teens Charles Haddon Spurgeon 
was filling the world with his own fame and with 
the glory of his Lord and Master ; that Shelley 
was only seventeen when he uttered so much of 
his soul in u Queen Mab " ; that Robert Burns 
began his '" Sin of Rhyme " at sixteen, though he 
ended it considerably later in life ; that Victor 
Hugo wrote a tragedy at fifteen, and before he was 
twenty took three prizes at the Academy, and 
gained the title of Master ; that Moore published 
in a Dublin magazine a sonnet at fourteen ; that 
Bryant wrote much at thirteen, although he gave 
us his masterpiece, " Thanatopsis, M at twenty- 
two ; and that Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote 
prose and poetry at ten, and published a vol- 
ume of poems at seventeen. 

Fable has affirmed that Hercules while a youth 
performed his "Twelve Labors." While still 
young, John the Baptist and the apostles of Jesus 
achieved glorious results for God and man. And 
it was as a young man that Christ lived and 
labored for a lost world ; it was the life-blood of a 
young man which he poured out on the cross for 
the world's salvation. In the vigor, freshness, 
and bloom of young manhood, he lived, died, and 
rose again. Had he lived to be old and feeble, 
the effect to human view would be disastrous. 



THE HURRYING ANGEL 265 

And as a young man, the God-man, he sits on his 
mediatorial throne to plead for young men who 
will accept his proffered love. 

We notice, in the second place, that it was a 
message which was to be verbally delivered — 
" speak to this young man." There are times 
when perhaps we ought simply to pray for the con- 
version of those committed to our care. Doubt- 
less sometimes there is nothing more that we 
can do. Absence from them and other causes 
may make it impossible for us to come into closer 
touch with those whom we would win to Christ. 
We may be sure that we ought always to pray for 
the conversion of those whom we are likely to in- 
fluence. Paul and Silas in the prison at Philippi 
had no means of communication with their fellow- 
prisoners except by way of God's throne. We 
read that " praying, they hymned God." This is 
the literal translation of the words descriptive of 
their songs and praises. Their praise and prayer 
were one act. Perhaps they chanted some of the 
Psalms of David, thus voicing their hearts' desires 
unto God. Their prayer, thus offered, was heard 
not only by God, but by the prisoners in their 
cells. That certainly was a night to be much re- 
membered. The old jail probably never before 
heard such " songs in the night," as on that occa- 
sion ; although Paul and Silas could not speak in 
the ordinary method through the gloomy parti- 
tioned walls, yet they could sing their praises and 
prayers unto God, and in this roundabout way, 

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they could reach the hearts of their fellow-pris- 
oners. There was no wall that could separate be- 
tween their praying hearts in jail, and their listen- 
ing Father in heaven. The prayers and praises 
thus sent upward came downward on the other 
side of the wail and fell as good seed into good 
soil. We can always pray for those whom we 
would see brought to Christ. The way between 
our hearts and God's throne may be always open. 
If in these days we ortener took our unconverted 
friends in the arms of believing prayer, many 
more of them would be brought to a saving 
knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

There are aiso times when W2 can best reach 
the hearts of those whom we desire converted by 
writing to them. In this way timid souls can 
often best express their deepest thoughts. The 
heart can sometimes best go out through the pen. 
Many a man or woman has not the courage to 
speak to the unconverted face to face. When the 
attempt is made their thoughts falter and their 
words are hesitant. They cannot do themselves, 
their cause, and their Master justice. But such 
timid souls may often pour out their hearts in a 
letter with a fullness and tenderness which will 
surprise even themselves. A letter thus written 
will sometimes come to the reader in his medita- 
tive hours. It may find him alone with his own 
heart and with his God. The letter will speak to 
him a^ain and a^ain. He mav throw it down, he 

o o 

may trample upon it with his foot, he may crush 



THE HURRYING ANGEL 267 

it with his hand, but it will not rebuke him ex- 
cept by its appearance as silently it beseeches him 
for his attention. It will remain under his eye as 
he moves about his room, adjusts his books, and 
examines his correspondence. It will, by its 
silent presence, insist on being read, and perhaps 
re-read. Then too, there will come a time when 
it must be answered. He must treat the writer of 
the letter with courtesy. What answer can be 
given ? What reply can he make to the expres- 
sions of tender feeling and to the heart's search- 
ing questions contained in the letter? God may 
make that letter an angel of mercy, a communi- 
cation from his own throne, a benediction from 
his own heart. God may in all these ways speak 
to the careless soul. Let us lose no opportunity 
in striving to reach men for their good and for 
God's glory. 

Fathers and mothers, write to your absent sons 
and daughters ! Where are your boys and girls 
to-night ? Are they in distant cities, in school, 
in business, or in the fascinations of social life ? 
Let a message speedily go from your heart to 
their hearts. Young men and women, you are 
here in New York, and your fathers and mothers 
are in the quiet country home. When have you 
written to them ? Have you answered their last 
tender and beseeching letter ? Answer it at once ! 
Tell them that you have given your hearts to 
God. Assure them that you are walking in Wis- 
dom's ways, whicli are ways of pleasantness, and 



268 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

whose paths are peace. Such a letter will give 
joy unspeakable to your parents in your old home ; 
such a letter will cause joy in heaven among the 
angels of God. Sunday-school teachers, have you 
written to the members of your class? Some of 
the boys and girls have been absent for several 
Sundays. Have they become indifferent? Are 
they ill ? Some of them perhaps are waiting to 
have you lead them to Christ. Write them at 
once ! Pour out your heart in love and your 
letter will be eloquent. Coining from the heart 
of a loving and prayerful teacher it will reach the 
heart alike of the indifferent and the thoughtful 
pupil, and you may thus see them led to Christ. 
Be all things to all men, as was the Apostle Paul, 
if by any means you may win some to the Lord 
Jesus. 

But it is a great thing to be able to speak to 
men face to face about their relations to God. It 
often requires courage to do so. It is compara- 
tively easy to preach against sin and sinners with- 
out having any particular sin or sinners in mind. 
It is quite another thing to come close to the un- 
converted and urge them at once to submit to 
Jesus Christ. This requires decision, courage, 
sometimes positive heroism. We need constantly 
to emphasize the importance of hand-to-hand 
work for the Lord Jesus. There is no work so 
fruitful as this. A Roman youth complained to 
his father that his sword was too short. ' ' Add a 
step to it," said his father. The Bible is the 



THE HURRYING ANGEL 269 

sword of the Spirit ; if we are to use it well we 
must come into close quarters. It is a great 
thing to be able to speak to men about God. So 
speaking the tongue finds its highest use. Then 
the voice, the eye, the hand, and the heart, all be- 
come eloquent to God. Such words when in- 
spired by the love of Christ, are irresistible. God 
will give skill to men to speak for truth. Love 
has a logic of its own. Love becomes irresistible 
when it voices itself in behalf of truth and God. 
When have you spoken to man, woman, or child 
on behalf of Christ? Have you done it to-day? 
Did you do it in the past week ? Oh, speak such 
words now. This may be your golden oppor- 
tunity ; this may be your only opportunity. 

We notice, in the last place, that this was a 
message given and delivered in haste — " run" 
said the one angel to the other. The haste was 
due to sympathy with the young man. He did 
not understand the significance of the vision of 
the man with the measuring line. Perhaps that 
vision was prophetic of evil. His mind was thus 
disturbed, and the angel desired speedily to relieve 
his perplexity. Why keep him longer in sus- 
pense? Angels have sympathy with the honest 
doubts of honest young men. Have not we? 
Look about you and you will find some one to 
whom you can run with some message for God. 
Let the love of Christ constrain you, and you also 
will haste to deliver some message for the Master. 

There is need of haste, because character is 



270 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

soon formed. It is formed sooner far than most 
of us think. At the age of seven many a child 
has received its trend for life and for eternity. 
Before the power of speech is acquired, children 
form ideas. At that early age they may receive 
lasting impressions. You are ofcen startled at 
hearing them repeat words which you dropped in 
their presence, and which they seemed not to 
hear. Who can rightly estimate the importance 
of giving the young a proper direction and inspi- 
ration in their early youth ? Youth is indeed the 
time to begin to serve God. The word of God 
makes special promise to those who are young in 
years. Then the mind receives its most perma- 
nent and profitable impressions. Oh, haste to de- 
liver the message to the boys and girls of to-day. 
They will be the men and women of to-morrow. 
They will be then leaders in the great business 
enterprises of the world, pillars in the church, or 
leaders in sin. May God in heaven help us to 
help them to-day. 

There should be haste, also, in speaking to the 
young because the opportunity of speaking at all 
may soon be beyond our reach. Where are to- 
day the boys who began with me in my pastorate 
twenty-five years ago ? To-day they are men. 
To-day some of them are at the ends of the earth. 
To-day some never go to the house of God. To- 
day others are earnest preachers of Jesus Christ, 
some in different parts of our own country, and 
some in several lands bevond the seas. Some have 



THE HURRYING ANGEL 27 1 



consecrated their lives to God on mission fields ; 
some are leaders in law, in medicine, in other pro- 
fessions, and in various commercial enterprises. My 
heart mi^ht almost break with anxietv as I think 
of the possibility of having failed to influence them 
aright. For some of them I thank God morning, 
noon, and night. They are the crown of my re- 
joicing. They shall shine as stars in the crown 
of Jesus Christ Time flies ; opportunities pass 
away; to-day may be the only opportunity to 
speak to some soul for Christ. All this congrega- 
tion will never be assembled again on earth. 
Some of you I shall not meet again until we meet 
at the judgment seat. I run to you now with a 
message from God. Oh, young men and women, 
remember now your Creator in the days of your 
youth ! Lay your young hearts at his feet, giving 
him the dew of youth, the strength of mature life, 
and the glory of old age. If you so submit to Christ 
I shall be as an angelic messenger to you to-day, 
having brought this message from Christ, and 
then shall pastor and people rejoice, as at the last 
they together cast their crowns at the feet of their 
Lord and King. 

We do not perhaps appreciate our young people 
as we ought. Possibly we get out of sympathy 
with them. It is so easy to do this as the years 
hurry us onward. Perhaps we disparage them 
somewhat in our thought. The temptation to do 
this is great. The men of one's own generation 
are apt to seem greater to him than those of its 



272 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

successor. But we need not fear any such deteri- 
oration. God has always been able to raise up 
men equal to all the emergencies confronting 
them. He will do so still, and the boys and girls 
of to-day will not be less than worthy of those 
who have preceded them. Let us see to it that 
we are factors in the making of them so. 



XVII 
THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES. 



V, 






" Go and tell Haiianiah, saying, Thus saith the Lord ; 
Thou hast broken the yokes of wood ; but thou shall make 
for them yokes of iron." Jeremiah 28 : 13. 



XVII 

TRUTH and falsehood are ever in an irrepres- 
sible conflict; the messengers of God and 
the emissaries of Satan must be in open hostility. 
Wherever there is a true prophet there will be a 
false prophet ; wherever there is Christ there will 
be antichrist. Jeremiah had charged the prophet 
who foretold a speedy victory over the king 
of Babylon, with uttering lies. In the chapter 
from which the text is taken Hananiah, one of 
these false prophets, contradicts Jeremiah, and 
affirms that Nebuchadnezzar's power would soon 
be overthrown, and that the vessels of the sanctu- 
ary, which had been carried away, would be re- 
turned. Jeremiah preached in act as well as in 
word. 

In order to illustrate the bondage into which 
the people of God should fall, he put a yoke upon 
his own neck ; and now in order to illustrate the 
falsity of Jeremiah's prophecies, Hananiah broke 
the yoke which was on Jeremiah's neck. As a 
true patriot, Jeremiah wished that the words of 
the false prophet might prove true ; but as a true 
prophet he knew that these words were false and 
that Israel was doomed. He knew that Jeconiah, 
the other captives, and the vessels of the temple 
could not be brought back in two years ; indeed, 

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2~6 QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

he knew sadly that the yoke of the king of Baby- 
lon should be so firmly bound on the neck of 
Israel that the vessels and captives would not re- 
turn for seventy years. 

There is a vast difference between the prophe- 
cies of true and false prophets. Jeremiah spoke 
with loftiness of expression and simplicity of 
spirit ; but Hananiah spoke with personal as- 
sertion and impious affirmation. As a faithful 
prophet Jeremiah must foretell the destruction of 
Jerusalem, although as a true Israelite he might 
pray for its preservation. He submitted humbly 
to the insolence of the false prophet, but he 
strongly affirmed his former prophecies ; and now 
after the insolence of Hananiah, the word of God 
in the mouth of Jeremiah is ratified. Hananiah 
broke the yoke of wood, but Jeremiah solemnly 
affirms that instead of bearing on their necks 
yokes of wood, God would make for them yokes 
of iron, and that with sorrow they should serve 
the king of Babylon. This iron yoke the}* would 
not be able to shake off, however vigorously they 
mio-ht struggle. Thev must suffer lon^ and oriev- 
ously for their sins. Hananiah cannot escape 
responsibility for his false prophecy ; he is sen- 
tenced to die for contradicting the words of Jeho- 
vah in the mouth of Jeremiah. He cheated the 
people and he affronted God ; he made the people 
to trust in a lie, and he endeavored to make God 
the author of that lie. He taught the people re- 
bellion against the Lord ; and he himself was the 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 277 

leader in that rebellion. God was obliged to say: 
" I will cast thee from off the face of the earth ; 
this year thou shalt die because thou hast taught 
rebellion against the L,ord." These are solemn 
words, and they were solemnly fulfilled ; for we 
read " so Hananiah the prophet died the same 
year, in the seventh month." We thus see that 
he died within the two months after the delivery 
of his false prophecy, for that was dated on the 
fifth month. His death was foretold as the pun- 
ishment of his sin ; it was a testimony from 
heaven against him because of his false prophecy 
and in honor of Jeremiah because of the truths 
which he uttered. 

The words of God through the lips of Jeremiah 
regarding the fate of Israel set forth a profoundly 
important principle. All men must wear some 
form of yoke, and those who will not wear the 
wooden yoke of obedience to God must wear the 
iron yoke of submission to Satan. To illustrate 
and to apply this truth and principle is the special 
object of this discourse. Three classes of yokes 
come upon us in our varied relations in life. In 
the Epistle to Titus we have the exhortation to 
" live soberly, righteously, and godly in this pres- 
ent world." The word "soberly" teaches us to 
exercise a due restraint on all our passions and 
propensities. We have in this threefold exhorta- 
tion three ever-widening circles of duty. The first 
circle simply includes duty to ourselves ; the next 
circle includes the duty we owe to our fellow-men ; 

Y 



278 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

and the third is larger still, setting forth our duty 
to God. This last circle properly includes the 
two preceding circles. We must bear yokes in 
these threefold relations in life. Nothing is more 
certain than that God, in his infinite wisdom, has 
put wooden yokes on us in relation to ourselves. 

There is the wooden yoke of industry ; if we 
will not bear this yoke we must wear the iron 
yoke of poverty. Religion is the friend of indus- 
try and of all other virtues ; religion is the foe of 
indolence and of all other vices. The necessity 
of work is not so much a curse as it is a blessing. 
Adam worked in Kden before he sinned ; he was 
required, even in a state of innocence, to dress the 
garden and keep it. The Apostle Paul became 
righteously indignant at the Thessalonian idlers, 
and declares that if they will not work neither 
shall they eat. Jesus Christ was himself the 
mighty worker ; he affirmed that he must work 
while the day lasted. He often reached the full 
measure of his strength, and experienced fatigue 
even as do workers now. Happy are the men 
who have been taught to bear the yoke of indus- 
try in their youth. The necessity to work has 
saved many a man from making shipwreck of his 
life. Every man should be taught, especially if 
lie is possessed of great wealth, that he owes 
solemn obligations to his generation. There is 
danger in America that we are raising up a class 
of young men whose only aim in life is to have 
what they call "a good time," and recklessly to 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 279 

spend the wealth, which their fathers foolishly 
hoarded. There is danger in America that we 
are raising an aristocracy of wealth which will be 
a far greater curse to our country than is an aris- 
tocracy of name and fame in some countries of the 
Old World. The old French motto, " Noblesse 
oblige" should exercise its full meaning over the 
sons and daughters of wealth in different parts of 
our broad land. Great responsibility rests upon 
the children of wealth ; correspondingly great 
possibilities for good or evil are before them. 
They cannot set aside the responsibilities which 
their possessions impose. They ought to realize 
that they are to be stewards of God to bring bless- 
ings to men. If they live lives of self-indulgence, 
even though they do not descend to the commis- 
sion of grosser sins, they are unworthy of their 
position in American society and of their respon- 
sibility as the possessors of wealth. 

The duty of the millionaire a generation ago 
was never discussed ; practically we had no mil- 
lionaires until a comparatively recent period ; but 
this duty now is one which the pulpit and the 
press must emphasize. Men of wealth must be 
held to a strict accountability for their obligations 
to God and man. A man died recently in the 
vicinity of New York leaving over ten million 
dollars ; of this sum he gave ten thousand to all 
the causes of God and man in the world. A man 
died recently in the vicinity of Boston leaving 
eight million dollars ; of all his wealth he left not 



280 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

one dollar to any cause of God or man. Such 
men are unprepared to die ; such men will have a 
fearful reckoning at the judgment seat of Christ. 
They do much toward fanning the flames of 
anarchy in the American Republic. If they do 
not become a blessing, they will be a vast curse 
to America in the near future. 

We are also to wear the wooden yoke of so- 
briety. We must exercise a proper control over 
all passions, purposes, and endeavors. If we throw 
off the wooden yoke of soberness, we shall have to 
wear the iron yoke of drunkenness. If there is a 
slave beneath God's heavens, it is the drunkard ; 
if there is a man to be pitied of angels and of 
God, it is he on whose soul is laid this terrible 
iron yoke. That yoke will certainly become 
heated in the furnace of fierce desire, a furnace 
which is itself heated of hell. We have rightly 
blamed the saloon-keepers who make drunkards ; 
but we have not sufficiently blamed, and have oc- 
casionally only pitied the man who makes him- 
self a drunkard. He is guilty at the bar of hu- 
manity, and will be guilty at the judgment seat 
of Christ for becoming a drunkard. Xo drunkard 
shall inherit the kingdom of heaven. We must 
emphasize the sin of drunkenness. We have 
rightly blamed the liquor sellers ; we must also 
justly blame the liquor drinkers. Even* man 
who is made at all makes himself; with equal 
truth it may be said that every man who is un- 
made unmakes himself. No man can be made a 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 28 1 

drunkard except by his own consent ; and every 
man must be held to a strict accountability for 
giving that consent. No man can degrade us if 
we do not yield ourselves to the influence of degra- 
dation. We all know that indulgence in strong 
drink breaks down the walls of personal resist- 
ance ; that it destroys the will-power of men until 
at last they become the victims of strong drink 
and of the diseases which it brings. But at the 
outset at least they are responsible for yielding to 
these dangerous and Satanic influences, and for 
that yielding they must be held responsible. 
We smile at the so-called Industrial Army that 
marched on Washington ; but if the subject were 
not so solemn we might smile as well as weep at 
the army of drunkards passing through the world 
in dishonor, and going down to eternal perdition. 
God help men and women now to throw off this 
terrible yoke ! Soon it will be bound with clamps, 
not upon the neck only, but also upon the soul of 
the wretched victim of intemperance. 

God lays upon us all the wooden yoke of 
purity. If we throw off this yoke we must wear 
the iron yoke of sensuality and viciousness. It is 
a horrible thing to become the slave of evil, the 
victim of vice, the candidate of dishonor on earth, 
and a child of perdition in eternity ! We ought 
to bless God for the yoke which restrains us from 
evil, and thereby blesses us with good. Liberty 
is not license ; liberty is obedience to just laws. 
The man who tramples upon just laws does not 



2S2 QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

enjoy wholesome liberty, but indulges in danger- 
ous license. No man has a right to do as he likes, 
unless he likes to do right. Xo man can break 
God's great eternal laws ; he can run against 
them, and they will break him. It is he and 
not they that will be broken. Men ought to be 
glad to-day with wonderful joy who wear the 
beautiful, radiant, and heavenly yoke of purity. 
The whole nation has been humiliated and hu- 
manity has been dishonored by grievous sins in 
high places. When the yoke of purity is thrown 
off the yoke of abominable grossness takes its 
place, and men and women become slaves to sin, 
and soon are both despised and pitied by them- 
selves, by their fellow-men, by angels, and by God. 
In wearing the yoke of purity we are yoked with 
Christ, for this is a double yoke. We may walk 
in blessed companionship with him, the perfect 
man, Son of God and Son of Man. 

In the larger circle there are yokes of wood to 
be borne in our social relations. Civilization is 
itself a yoke, but of wood rather than of iron. 
Society necessitates the giving up of certain so- 
called rights in order that we may enjoy the privi- 
leges which society offers. City life restricts cer- 
tain privileges which country life affords ; but 
city life gives us other privileges far in excess of 
those of which we have denied ourselves. All 
life contemplates the idea of self-sacrifice. Every 
higher good implies the abandonment of lower 
eood in our relations with our fellow-men. We 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 283 

must consider their rights as well as our own. 
All life is preceded by some form of death. 
Every social privilege implies the abandonment 
of some personal right. Every good driver on 
Broadway and Fifth Avenue has not only to look 
out for his own team, but for all other teams 
driving on the same street. No good citizen can 
afford to be indifferent to the welfare of all other 
citizens. We must bear the wooden yoke of civ- 
ilization or wear the iron yoke of barbarism. 

We must wear the wooden yoke of good citi- 
zenship, or we shall have to wear the iron yoke of 
a contemptible bossism. If we do not stand up 
for our rights, we shall have to cringe at the feet 
of coarse, ignorant, unpatriotic, and un-American 
political masters. The issue is distinctly before 
us. The ruling classes in many of our great cities 
have ruled so wickedly that their conduct has 
brought dishonor on republican institutions 
throughout the world. Shall our American citi- 
zens ever rise to the performance of their duties 
as patriotic citizens, joyfully wearing the wooden 
yoke of Americanism, rather than the hard, 
rough, cruel, iron yoke of an unpatriotic for- 
eignism ? 

We must also wear the wooden yoke of law, or 
the iron yoke of anarchy. This issue also is dis- 
tinctly before us at this moment. We are hu- 
miliated by the riots and terrible outbreaks in so 
many parts of our country ; we seem to be in a 
period of peculiar lawlessness. Hungarians, Slavs, 



284 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

and other foreigners of like character have been 
making the coke regions of Pennsylvania scenes 
of Satanic outbreaks. Companies have marched 
from shop to shop and made men join their riot- 
ous ranks at the risk of their lives. Thousands 
of tons of coke have been destroyed, and some 
precious lives have been sacrificed. The place to 
begin to stop these outbreaks is Castle Garden. 
We must insist upon qualification, and so limitation, 
in immigration. This country must not longer 
be made the dumping ground for the worst popu- 
lations of Europe. Anarchy is an iron yoke 
which is sure to be heated white hot, and which 
will burn its way into the very heart of all that is 
noblest, sweetest, and purest in American civili- 
zation. The ballot-box is the ark of the cove- 
nant of the American Republic. Palsied be the 
hand that deposits a false ballot and the tongue 
that makes a false count ! Thank God, the better 
spirit of American patriotism is rising, and it will 
roll over this land with an irresistible wave. Let 
us all willingly accept the wooden yoke of just 
law, so that we shall not unwillingly bow our 
heads to accept the iron yoke of anarchy. 

But the circle still enlarges. We must wear 
either the wooden yoke of obedience to God, or 
the iron yoke of submission to Satan. If we 
shall not bear this wooden yoke we shall be like 
Adam, driven from the paradise of privilege and 
possibility. We must wear the yoke of faith or 
the iron yoke of doubt. Doubt is boyhood ; faith 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 285 

is manhood. Doubt is the gray dawn of the 
morning ; faith is the splendor of the noonday 
sun. Doubt is imperfect attainment ; faith is 
the crown of noblest culture. Refusing to wear 
the wooden yoke of reason, we shall have to wear 
the iron yoke of unreason. The man who does 
not believe in Jesus Christ is not rational ; the 
truest rationalist is the humblest believer. He is 
unworthy the noble name of rationalist who with- 
holds his faith and love from Jesus Christ. Men 
who will not believe in God are ready to believe 
in ghosts ; men who will not believe the Bible are 
ready to believe in dreams and in all other vaga- 
ries. Caligula, savage, capricious, and fantastic 
as he was in wickedness, mocked at the existence 
of any deity, but was accustomed to hide under a 
bed when it thundered. Reasonless credulity and 
a groundless infidelity are always twin brothers. 
No men are so insanely credulous regarding hu- 
man follies as are those who are insanely incredu- 
lous regarding Divine revelations. Men who will 
not believe in the Bible will believe the ravings 
of a fortune-teller and in the communications of 
mediums of shady reputations, who affirm that 
Shakespeare is speaking in their wretched dog- 
gerel, Milton in their unrhythmic verses, John 
Bright in their bombastic speeches, and Macau- 
lay in their ungrammatical prose. 

Men who will not wear the wooden yoke of 
revelation, must wear the iron yoke of tradition. 
There is a vast amount of traditionalism in many 



286 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 



so-called Christian creeds. It is not too much to 
say that heathenism still exists in many corrupt 
forms of Christianity. Certain branches of the 
Christian church have swung away from the fun- 
damental principles of Protestantism. " The Bible, 
and the Bible only, the religion of Protestant- 
ism," are the words of Chillingworth. This prin- 
ciple has received the endorsement of Protestants 
generally. But unfortunately the words of this 
famous theologian of the Church of England, who 
had been led into, and finally out of, the traditions 
of Romanism, are practically contradicted by the 
principles and practices of many men of his own 
church. The belief in purgatory is an ancient 
form of heathenism carried over into Christianity. 
It is not found in the word of God, and is not in 
harmony with sound reason. Without doubt the 
elements of this unscriptural doctrine are found in 
certain forms of Judaism and also in certain forms 
of Persian heathenism. The learned Neander in 
tracing the historical or critical view of the gene- 
sis of this doctrine, finds its source in the ancient 
Persian doctrine of the purifying burning which 
precedes the victory of Ormuzd. The Jews, it is 
probable, received the doctrine from the Persians, 
and it found its way into the ethical speculations 
of early Christians from Jewish traditions. It was 
in perfect harmony with certain philosophical no- 
tions borrowed by the Gnostic Christians from 
Neo-Platonism. The belief w T as that man was 
inherently evil, and that if the body were to rise 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 287 

from the dead it must be subjected to some form 
of purification. 

Many so-called Christian creeds are themselves 
in great need of purification ; they ought to be 
subjected to the purgatory of critical examination 
in the light of Christian truth. Infant baptism 
belongs to this class of errors. The moment a 
church adopts infant baptism it ceases to be, ac- 
cording to the usual definition of Protestantism, 
a Protestant church ; it at once passes over to the 
ground of Romanism and traditionalism. There 
is absolutely no logical place for infant baptism 
in an evangelical system of faith. Those who at- 
tribute regenerating power to this rite are con- 
sistent in its observance, although unscriptural ; 
but those who deny this regenerating influence 
are both unscriptural and inconsistent in its observ- 
ance. Those who practise infant baptism must 
either make more or less of the rite, or abandon 
it altogether in order to retain even the semblance 
of logical consistency. 

It is a thousand pities that so many churches 
practise, as an ordinance of the New Testament, 
a rite for which, according to their own most 
critical scholars, there is neither command for, 
nor example of, in the word of God. The 
practice of infant baptism to-day is without doubt 
one of the most marked evidences of weak- 
ness in modern Protestantism. No Protestant 
church which observes this unscriptural ordi- 
nance can consistently or successfully antagonize 



288 QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

the Roman Church. In the reco^niM:: of this 
illogical and unscriptural rite Romanism and 
Protestantism join hands under the guidance of 
tradition. Would to God that men accepted con- 
sistently the famous dictum of Chillingworth to 
which we have referred; then would Pr ::e ; ::..::- 
ism arise in her might and lead in the conquest of 
the world for the recognition of the word of God 
as the only rule of faith and practice in the church 
of Christ. 

Tradition is a cruel master ; it has wielded the 
sceptre of persecution and of death through many 
of the ages of the Christian church. When 
churchianity takes the place of Christianity, then 
many of the dearest interests of our holy faith are 
at stake, and Christ is crucified afresh in the 
house of his friends. Then formalism takes the 
place of life, and the power of God to win vic- 
tories becomes weakness in the presence of the 
meanest foe. Sad it is that the substitution has 
been so often made. 

We must recognize either Christ or Satan as 
master ; there is no middle ground between these 
rivals to the throne of our hearts. Satan is still 
the foe of Jesus Christ. Once he strove to secure 
the allegiance of the Son of God, when he was 
tempted in the wilderness ; then as always, Satan 
was a liar. He could not have delivered the w : rl 3 
to Christ even if Christ yielded him allegiance. 
Jesus Christ and not Satan sits upon the thro::e of 
the universe. Mighty as is the devil he is neyer- 



THE WOODEN OR IRON YOKES 289 

theless the defeated foe of Zion's King, and his 
leal subjects. If we stand with the triumphant 
Christ we shall share in his glorious victory ; if 
we yield to the traitorous solicitations of Satan we 
shall share here in his partial defeat and hereafter 
in his total overthrow. Every form of evil is on 
the side of the devil ; every form of good is on 
the side of Christ. When we yield to sin we 
yield to Satan ; when we triumph over wrong we 
stand with Christ in his heroic victory over the 
kingdom of Satan. Blessed are they who wear 
the easy yoke of Christ rather than the hard and 
heavy yoke of Satan. We must wear either 
Christ's yoke or Satan's. Which shall it be ? 
Satan's yoke is iron ; Christ's is wood, perfectly 
fitted by his love. Christ's yoke is easy, and his 
burden is light ; Satan's yoke is hard and his bur- 
den is heavy. Christ's yoke is such a burden as 
" wings are to a bird, or sails to a ship." May 
God help us to wear this yoke willingly, joyously, 
and triumphantly ! May God save America from 
individual license, from social anarchy, and from 
the folly and crime of atheism ! May God save 
America and the world from the sin of unbelief! 
May God help each of you now to come as lost 
men and women to the feet, the cross, and the 
heart of Jesus Christ ! May the God of Jeremiah 
be your God, and may you avoid the sin of Hana- 
niah, and so his terrible fate. Here and now 
sweetly realize the truth of Christ's blessed words, 
" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy 



290 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke 
upon you, and learn of me ; for I am meek and 
lowly in heart ; and ye shall find rest unto your 
souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is 
light." 



XVIII 
THE COWARDS IN BATTLE 



1 ' The children of Ephraim, being armed, and carrying; 
bows, turned back in the day of battle. ' ' Psalms 78 : g. 



XVIII 

THIS text is taken from the longest historical 
psalm in the Psalter. In it the writer re- 
capitulates the history of Israel from the exodus 
to the final union of the tribes under David. It 
seems clear that the psalm was written after the 
revolt of the ten tribes, and the establishment of 
the sovereignty in the tribe of Judah. In other 
words, the psalm was written after the time of 
David and Solomon. The text seems clearly to 
indicate this fact, as does also the sixty-seventh 
verse, in both of which " Ephraim," the chief 
'of the ten tribes, is used to distinguish them 
from "Judah." The psalm is an appeal to the 
past, with the definite purpose of rebuking the in- 
gratitude and rebellion of the people. That past 
was marked at every point by displays of patience 
and power on the part of God ; but it was equally 
marked by manifestations of weakness and rebel- 
lion on the part of the people. A review of the 
history is intended to warn Judah and to rebuke 
Ephraim. While the whole nation is rebuked, 
the blame falls most heavily upon Ephraim as the 
leader in the earlier apostasy of the people, and 
as the type of a disobedient and rebellious spirit. 
Perhaps the special design of the psalm is to 
vindicate the choice of God in the rejection of 

293 



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Ephraim and in the selection of Judah as the head 
of the nation. The rejection of the ten tribes, in 
which Ephraim exercised a predominating in- 
fluence, was due to their revolt from God. 

We call attention, in the first place, to the 
nominal character of these men — u the children of 
Ephraim." This connection gave them the ad- 
vantage of having had brave ancestors. It is 
true that the numbers of the tribe do not appar- 
ently fulfill the promise of the blessing of Jacob, 
for at the census in the wilderness of Sinai its 
numbers were but forty thousand five hundred. 
Forty years later, on the eve of the conquest, 
while Manasseh and Benjamin had advanced, 
Ephraim had decreased, its numbers then being 
but thirty-two thousand five hundred, the tribe 
of Simeon being the only smaller tribe, and num- 
bering twenty-two thousand two hundred. 

Joshua, the son of Nun, was of the tribe of 
Ephraim. This great and heroic leader gave the 
tribe, notwithstanding the smallness of its num- 
bers, a high position in the councils of the na- 
tion. Doubtless the connection of the tribe with 
Joshua tended also to give it the haughty spirit 
and authoritative tone which it manifested on 
many occasions. The word Ephraim stands in 
the text for the ten tribes, Ephraim being the 
chief. It is possible for men to be unworthy of 
their noble ancestors. Unfortunately unworthy 
sons of noble sires are only too common. The 
descendants of Joshua, and other leaders, u in the 



THE COWARDS IN BATTLE 295 

brave days of old," became cowards in time of 
trial and acted unworthy alike of themselves and 
their noble ancestors. The same principle is 
too often illustrated in our own day. Noble an- 
cestors are a great honor and should be a great 
blessing. But when men act unworthy of their 
high privileges, they sink to lower levels than 
those who never enjoyed such privileges. Blood 
is much ; grace is more. Parents can transmit 
their vices, but not always their virtues. Divine 
grace is a personal possession and a divine bestow- 
ment. Happy are the children of godly parents, 
when the God of their fathers becomes their God 
by their own joyous choice, and by their daily, 
loving, and loyal devotion to his service. 

As children of Ephraim they also enjoyed great 
advantages of location. The central situation of 
Ephraim gave it opportunities of trade and 
growth, denied to some of the other tribes. It 
was on the highway of all communications from 
one part of the country to another. It was in the 
line of march from north to south, from the Jor- 
dan to the sea, from distant Damascus even to 
Egypt. The roads connecting these countries lay 
in part through Ephraim, and thus constant traf- 
fic was possible and actual between different 
towns and countries. Shechem, the original set- 
tlement of Jacob, was within the limits of the 
tribe. Here was his historic well, here his " par- 
cel of ground," and here the two sacred moun- 
tains of Ebal and Gerizim, with all the historic 



296 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

memories of trie impressive ceremonial of bless- 
ing and cursing. Within the tribe, likewise, was 
Shiloh, where the ark remained from the time 
of Joshua to that of Eli. Within its borders, 
also, was the tomb of Joshua, not only the great 
hero of Ephraim, but of the entire nation. It 
was a great honor, and should have been a great 
blessing to the tribe that these localities were 
within its borders, localities suggestive of a glo- 
rious past and prophetic of a still nobler future. 
To these famous places the tribe would naturally 
turn its thoughts and often direct its steps. No 
other tribe possessed localities so sacred, until 
Jerusalem was established under the triumphant 
arms of the great David. The tribe made great 
pretensions. It was proud and haughty to an un- 
usual degree. During the time of the Judges, it 
asserted a species of superiority over all the other 
tribes. 

Unfortunately, the leaders of the tribe were often 
leaders in sin ; unfortunately, ten of the twelve 
tribes were lost to David's house, and later it was 
clearly seen that God was with the two tribes 
rather than with the ten. It is true that some- 
times the tribe showed a noble and patriotic 
spirit, but generally it was ready to take offense, 
to manifest jealousy, and to refuse co-operation in 
enterprises undertaken by other tribes in which 
enterprises it did not have a leading position. 
We have only to think of its complaints to 
Gideon, to Jephthah, and even to David ; com- 



THE COWARDS IN BATTLE 297 

plaints expressed almost in the same words in 
each case, " Why did ye despise us that our advice 
should not have been first had," or, " Why hast 
thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not." 
The reader of the book of Judges becomes sadly 
familiar with this spirit of complaint. 

The possession of privilege is always a blessing 
or a curse. Privileges wrongly used become 
curses greatly multiplied. The psalmist here 
cannot forget the ancient position of this tribe, 
neither can he forget that they used their great 
opportunities to injure, and not to bless the nation 
as a whole. This tribe might have been bene- 
fited greatly by the influence of Samuel, for 
though he was a Levite, he was a native of 
Ramah in Mount Kphraim. Saul, also, belonged 
to a tribe in close affiliation with the family of 
Joseph. It thus came to pass that during the 
priesthood of Samuel and the kinghood of Saul, 
the supremacy of Ephraim was emphasized. The 
concentration of both the civil and ecclesiastical 
capital at Jerusalem, under David, gave a severe 
blow to the pride and power of Ephraim. But 
some of her stalwart sons assisted in making 
David king over Israel, and among the officers of 
his court were some Ephraimites. But the reign 
of Solomon tended to develop the spirit of revolt, 
and Solomon himself clearly saw that a separation 
could not long be postponed. Through the in- 
sane conduct of his son, the rebellion was soon an 
actual experience. It is ever more true that 



298 QUICK TRUTHS IX QUAINT TEXTS 

privilege wrongly used turns to the utmost 
disadvantage of those thus favored. Men and 
women in nominal Christian lands who reject 
Jesus Christ and live practically as heathen, will 
fare far worse in the day of judgment than the 
heathen themselves. The servant who knew his 
Masters will and did it not shall be beaten with 
many stripes ; he who knew it not and did it not, 
with but few stripes. Xo one sinks so deeply into 
perdition in actual experience as he who was 
exalted nearest to heaven in personal privilege. 
It is a great honor to belong to the children of 
Ephraim, but it is an honor bearing with it solemn 
responsibilities, responsibilities which may sink 
their possessors into hopeless degradation if they 
are not properly discharged for the good of men 
and the glory of God. 

Our attention is directed, in the second place, 
to the military condition of these men — " being 
armed and carrying bows." The idea here taught 
is that they had abundant means for protecting 
themselves and for aiding the other tribes. The 
expression " carrying bows " literally means 
"throwing forth" or "lifting up." They were 
archers thoroughly equipped for battle. They 
were defensively armed. They also enjoyed spe- 
cial opportunities, and were skillfully equipped. 
But weapons of war are of little value if men have 
not the martial spirit; and if God be absent, the 
true martial spirit cannot be present. Sin makes 
cowards of all men. It takes awav their heart, 



THE COWARDS IN BATTLE 299 

and utterly robs them of a heroic spirit. They 
were also offensively equipped, for we are told 
that they were not only armed but they carried 
bows. Great things might thus naturally be ex- 
pected of a tribe with ancestors so brave, opportu- 
nities so great, and twofold armor so appropriate. 
The church of God is similarly equipped. It 
also has its defensive and its offensive armor. In 
the summary of that armor which is given us in 
the sixth chapter of the Epistle to the Ephesians, 
we have a full statement of all its parts. It is in- 
teresting to observe that the exhortation there is 
to "put on the whole armour of God." Every 
Christian is furnished with a full panoply, that he 
may be a good soldier of Jesus Christ. In this 
suggestive list there is but one offensive weapon, 
" the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of 
God." All the other parts of the armor are de- 
fensive. He that takes the human sword may 
perish by that sword ; the Christian's divinely ap- 
pointed weapon is " the sword of the Spirit." As 
the sword was the essential part of the armor of 
an ancient soldier, so this sword is the only essen- 
tial weapon in the hand of the Christian soldier. 
He is not furnished with the bow, the spear, or 
the battle-axe ; but with this one offensive weapon 
he will be able to strike down all the foes of truth 
and God. He is not to depend on his own rea- 
son ; he is not to rely on his argumentative skill. 
This divine sword will rout Satan ; it will drive 
back temptation, and will win glorious victories. 



300 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

A single blow of this sword is worth more than 
all the human philosophy which the world con- 
tains. 

The devil is a skillful reasoner ; he can construct 
syllogisms and draw false conclusions. He is 
more than a match for us along lines of human 
endeavor ; but while he is more than a match for 
us, he is less than a match for Jesus Christ. He 
cannot endure the flash and cut of the sword 
of the Spirit. Had Eve used this sword, instead 
of attempting to reason with the tempter, she 
would have been safe. The second Adam stood, 
although the first Adam fell ; and the second 
Adam met Satan with the word of God. Had he 
used forms of divine power which we may not 
possess, in encountering the great enemy, his ex- 
ample would have been comparatively worthless 
to us. But he used simply the weapon which we 
may use, and he won only the victory which we 
may win. The moment we drop the sword and 
begin to parley with Satan, we are vanquished. 
So reasoning with the devil we are like a man in 
battle who would throw away his sword and use 
his naked hands against his adversary. God help 
us all to have the right passage of Scripture on 
our tongues as the sword of the Spirit, and to 
have a quick eye and a supple wrist that we may 
know how to attack and to overcome every enemy ! 

We observe, in the last place, the cowardly con- 
duct of these men, they ''turned back in the day 
of battle/' This is a terrible charge to be made 



THE COWARDS IN BATTLE 3OI 

against the children of Ephraim. Their conduct 
reflects seriously on Joshua, and their other brave 
ancestors. Brave warfare is not waged by turning 
one's back. Men should stand or fall facing 
their foes. These Ephraimites perhaps trusted 
in their armor rather than in their God. They 
became panic-stricken when they were expected 
to be of service. We have here a striking picture 
of faithfulness in the day of trial. They fled 
when they ought to have stood their ground. 
They were brave soldiers on parade days, but 
arrant cowards on the day of battle. Courage is 
worth more than armor when the- battle rages. 
Moral courage is the secret of victory in thousands 
of battles. No man can explain the victories of 
Joshua, of David, of Wellington, of Washington, 
of Grant, and of many more great leaders in 
battle, apart from their eminent personality and 
their moral courage. This element in human 
character must never be wanting if the noblest 
results of human influence are to be secured. 

We are told also that their cowardice was shown 
" in the day of battle." There may be a reference 
to some particular battle in which the Ephraim- 
ites were specially concerned. Some suppose that 
the defeat here intended was that by the men of 
Gath, mentioned in 1 Chron. 7 : 20-22, or the 
reference may be to the shameful defeat which 
the Philistines gave them in the time of Eli, 
when they captured the ark, the account being 
given in 1 Sam. 4 : 10, 11. It was bad enough to 

2a 



302 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

turn their backs when the danger was not great, 
but it was simply abominable that they should do 
this in the day of battle. 

The conduct of the Bphraimites unfortunately is 
too often the conduct of Christians in our day. 
They are very loyal when the sun shines and ene- 
mies are absent ; but they become disloyal and 
cowardly when foes are numerous and temptations 
are fierce. Better the three hundred men that 
lapped, as the helpers of Gideon, than the thirty- 
two thousand who could not endure the tests to 
which they were subjected. But we ought to 
congratulate him and to thank God because he 
promised that by the three hundred that " lapped " 
the valiant leader should overcome the Alidianites 
and save Israel. 

If such a test were applied to the church of 
God to-day, the large numbers who would be 
eliminated would both startle and humiliate us ; 
but those who would remain would be stalwart, 
heroic, consecrated, and triumphant to a degree 
which would rejoice the hearts of saints on earth 
and angels in heaven. A church of two hundred 
men and women, aglow with love to God and 
love for the souls of men, would stir the city 
of New York from center to circumference. 
Our Christianity is too easy a possession, or at 
least a profession, in our day. We need the 
heroic spirit of Paul in his consuming zeal and 
utter self-sacrifice. We need the spirit of Lu- 
ther, who would meet the Diet at Worms al- 



THE COWARDS IN BATTLE 303 

though there were as many devils present as 
there were tiles on the roofs of the houses. We 
need the spirit of Bunyan, who would rather stay 
in Bedford jail until the moss grew on his eye- 
brows than be faithless to duty and God. We 
need the spirit of John Knox, when he cried out 
while at prayer in a garden near his house, u Oh, 
God, give me Scotland or I die ! " We need the 
spirit of Matthew Henry, who said, " I would 
think it a greater happiness to gain one soul for 
Christ than mountains of silver and gold to my- 
self." We need the spirit of Brainerd, who could 
say, " I cared not where or how I lived or what 
hardships I went through, so that I could but gain 
souls to Christ." How weak is the spirit and 
how worthless the labors of most Christians com- 
pared with these heroes of faith ! Shall we be so 
faint-hearted as to turn our back in the day of 
battle ? Yonder stands the Christ on trial in some 
hall, and before some tribunal. Here are his 
sneering foes warming themselves by some earthly 
fire ; here is some silly girl charging us with be- 
ing his followers. Shall we, like the faint-hearted 
Peter, having followed him afar ofT, now deny him ? 
Shall you, who are his professed disciples, crucify 
him afresh and put him to open shame in the 
house of his friends? I summon you, young 
women, that you stand true to your profession of 
faith and to your covenant in the church of God ! 
I summon you, young men, and you, older men, 
that you be willing to give your right hand or to 



304 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

give your life, rather than be cowards and traitors 
toward hi in who gave you his life on Calvary's 
cross. Shall you go forever on record, in the his- 
tory of the church on earth and in the records of 
eternity, as having turned your backs in the day 
of battle ? Oh, mothers, be like the brave women 
of Sparta, who commanded their sons in going 
forth to battle, to come home with their shields or 
on their shields. Better be mothers and fathers 
of dead sons than mothers and fathers of wayward 
daughters and cowardly sons. A thousand times 
better to die on the field of battle with our faces 
to the foe, than to turn our backs as cravens and 
traitors, when truth and Christ are fighting against 
error and Satan. 

Terrible is this title placed forever on the page 
of sacred history against the children of Ephraim. 
Behold the picture ! These stalwart sons of his- 
toric and immortal sires, fully armed — armed 
defensively and offensively. There they stand ; 
the trumpet sounds, the battle begins. It grows 
hot and hotter. The time has come when even- 
noble impulse in these armed soldiers should 
lead them to rush for country and God into 
the thickest of the fight ; but, look ye, they hesi- 
tate, they stop, they turn, they flee ! Abominable 
cowards ! Unspeakable traitors ! Hold up for- 
ever the picture in the gallery of revelation to the 
contempt and execration of brave souls in all the 
ages to come. Let it be ours to do and to die, 
but never to turn back, as did these. 



XIX 
THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 



■ * Fifty thousand which could keep rank ; they were not of 
double heart" I Chronicles 12 : jj. 



XIX 

ON this Sunday evening preceding Memorial 
Day we meet in God's house to worship 
him, to give honor to the memory of our noble 
dead, and to learn the lessons of duty which the 
day with its sad and joyous memories teaches. 
The thought of the text selected for this evening 
is not, at the first glance, entirely clear ; but when 
fully seen it is found to be suggestive and in- 
spiring. We have in the chapter from which 
the text is taken, as Dr. Samuel Cox has reminded 
us, five muster-rolls from the archives of the 
Hebrew people. In some cases the lists are ac- 
companied by marginal notes by an intelligent 
contemporary, perhaps by David himself. These 
notes, of course, add vastly to the historic value 
of these national rolls. Such lists, fortunately, 
we have of our own civil war. We have histories 
by professional historians, and also by our noble 
and immortal soldiers. 

It may not seem a wonderful thing to you that 
fifty thousand men could keep rank. You may say, 
it is the business of the soldier to do that. Still, 
it is much to keep rank, not simply on the parade 
ground, but amid the storm of battle. It is a 
great honor to say that soldiers could repel a 
charge or make an assault with an unbroken line ; 

307 



6 



08 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 



that when brave fellows fell fast, other brave men 
were ready to close up the ranks, and to present 
an unbroken front to the foe. But the chief les- 
son here is the secret of the bravery of David's 
soldiers : " they were not of a heart and a heart." 1 
They did not have one heart for the home and 
another heart for the battlefield ; not one heart 
for self and another for David. They had one 
heart for David, for country, for God. They were 
under the control of an overmastering purpose. 
They forgot everything but the honor of the king 
and the salvation of the country. Double-hearted 
men are a failure always and everywhere. The 
difference between half-hearted and whole-hearted 
service for God and man is often the difference 
between shameful defeat and glorious victory. 
But the singleness of purpose, the entire devotion 
of David's men made them irresistible. It ought 
to be remembered that it was their unity of heart 
that led to their uniformity of step ; that it was 
this singleness of purpose in the hearts of Da- 
vid's men that kept them in rank, and enabled 
them to present an unbroken line to the foe. We 
need men to-day with similar unity of heart, uni- 
formity of step, and invincibility of courage, in 
every duty and in every conflict. 

We need men with courage to keep rank when 
great principles are at stake, when the existence 
of civil and religions liberty is the issue. Great 

1 The last clause of the text is more literally rendered in this way. 



THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 309 

principles are necessary to make men brave in 
national crises. We ought not to separate widely 
between our piety and our patriotism. The man 
who loves God most tenderly will love his country 
most loyally. The bravest soldier for truth and 
God should be the bravest soldier for flag and 
country. I am now addressing men who, I trust, 
are as loyal in religious faith as they were brave 
in their devotion to their country in peace or in 
war. It is extremely difficult to realize that a 
whole generation has grown up since the war ; that 
the boys of '61 are the mature men of '95 ; that 
the mature men of '6i are now feeling the infirmi- 
ties of age, and that for some of them the final 
muster-roll is nearly ready. To many even in 
this congregation the war is only a tradition, and 
to others it is history, not differing widely from 
other chapters in the story of our beloved land. 
There are in our congregation now those who re- 
member as among their childish memories the 
spirit-stirring drum and " the pride, pomp, and 
circumstance ' ' of the war. There are others 
who remember how their fathers and mothers and 
older members of their family listened for the cry 
of the newsboys announcing the reports of the 
battles of the previous day, and how the lists of 
the dead and wounded were scanned to see whether 
loved names were there. It is fitting that this 
evening these memories should be revived and the 
lessons of the war should be emphasized. 

The day will never come when the republic 



310 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

shall cease to honor her brave defenders. Should 
that day come, America would deserve to be ex- 
cluded from the sisterhood of the noblest nations. 
No braver men fought on the field of Mara- 
thon, no braver men shouted for liberty among 
the Swiss Alps, than those who marched from 
their quiet homes in the North to fight the battles 
of their country, and many of them to lay their 
bodies in Southern graves. God forbid that the 
country should forget her brave soldiers. She 
will decorate their graves the day after to-morrow 
with flowers, and although these flowers shall fade, 
the memory of the soldiers will be forever green 
in the kindly thoughts and tender affections of 
their countrymen. Battle flags may decay, and 
the grass may grow over the graves where sleep 
our dead heroes ; but their brave deeds will forever 
remain as an imperishable chapter in the glorious 
history of the republic. 

Brave men, I remark in the next place, will 
keep step to the sentiment of appreciation of the 
noble part taken by American women during the 
trying days of our civil war. Their heroism in 
many respects was more sublime than that of the 
men. They suffered in the quiet of their homes 
without the excitements of the battlefield. In 
their patient suffering they were upheld by serene 
hope, by loyal devotion to their country, and by 
sublime faith in God. The men on the field of 
battle were under the excitements of music and 
the shouts of both armies ; they were stimulated 



THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 311 

by the infernal scream of trie shells, the rattle of 
musketry, and the booming of cannon. They had 
also the magnetic influence of brave men by their 
side ; and they were cheered by the voices of cap- 
tains and other officers. But the women were 
alone in the silence of their homes by day, and in 
the more awful silence of night. Their hearts 
were breaking with anxiety for father, husband, 
son, brother, or lover, fighting the battles of their 
country hundreds of miles away. We shall not 
forget on these memorial days the women who 
went to nurse the sick and wounded ; the women 
who walked hospitals without fear of fever, and 
in defiance of pestilence ; and the women who 
spent their time in preparing delicacies and min- 
istering to the comforts of soldiers on the field. 
To-day let us crown these women with unfading 
garlands. They are still in large measure the 
hope of the republic. 

General Trumbull in a recent article tells us of 
the bravery of one family to whom it is an honor 
in this connection to refer. In his company, 
raised at the beginning of the war, was a man of 
forty-five, a man of influence and wealth. He 
had a devoted wife and eleven loving children. 
The eldest son enlisted with his father, and as father 
and son passed the home on the way to the field, 
at the gate stood the wife and mother and the re- 
maining ten children. Each one of them, includ- 
ing the baby, waved a flag as the father and son 
passed. In the first battle this noble son fell, shot 



312 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

through the body. " Tom," said a comrade, " are 
you badly hurt ? " " Yes," said he, " I am dying. 
Give my love to my mother." This comrade rode 
up to the father and told him that his son was dead. 
For a moment the brave man fell forward on his 
horse's neck, and a great sob burst from his heart. 
Then straightening himself up he exclaimed, 
"Thank God, he died like a brave man. God 
help his poor mother." And then cheering on his 
men, he rushed into battle. After the battle was 
over the announcement of her son's death was 
made to this patriotic mother. The news was 
terrible, but she bore it with heroic resignation, 
and in the silent watches of the night she min- 
gled mourning for her dead boy with anxiety for 
her living husband. A year passed ; this husband 
had been made a lieutenant-colonel. His regi- 
ment had been engaged in a terrific battle ; pain- 
fully anxious was the noble wife in the quiet 
home. Looking over the paper the next day, she 
found among the dead the name of her husband. 
No sooner had she and the second son made that 
discovery than the second patriotic boy said : 
" Mother, I ought to go." And that heroic wo- 
man said : " Go ! " The days went by, she 
watched and waited, hearing the sound of a battle 
in every breeze. A great battle had again been 
fought ; again she searched eagerly among the 
names of the killed and wounded, and there 
among the dead, killed at the front, was the name 
of her boy. Then stood before her the third son 



THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 313 



repeating the language of the second, and hear- 
ing from his mother the word "Go," and he 
went, and like his father and two brothers, he 
died fighting bravely for his country. 

General Trumbull adds that after the war was 
over he was riding from Waterloo, Iowa, to Inde- 
pendence. A lady in the same car suddenly be- 
came ill. She was accompanied by her daughter. 
The daughter recognized the general, and came 
to him saying, " My mother wishes to see you." 
Approaching the woman, he found in her, she 
knowing him though he did not remember her, 
the wife of his friend and the mother of the three 
brave boys. She thanked the general for his care 
over her husband and sons, and for the kind letter 
he wrote her the day that Tom was killed ; and 
then she said : " The war is over, the country is 
saved, and I am satisfied ; but my heart is broken, 
and 1 am going to my old home in Ohio to die." 
These are the women who make a country great ; 
these are the women who ought to receive honor 
on this memorial day ; these are the women whose 
names will be held in loving memory in all the 
future history of our great republic. 

We ought to keep rank to the progress of the 
larger civilization which necessitated the late war, 
and which was also accelerated by it. Our civil 
war was a period of education, emancipation, and 
general progress. These helpful influences it ex- 
ercised not over America alone, but over the 
whole world. European nations could not under- 

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stand how a republic could disband a million men 
and have them return to the peaceful pursuits of 
industry. It was prophesied in Europe that the 
military idea would ever after be dominant in 
our government, and that the United States 
would be a military nation ; but the soldiers were 
disbanded, and soon became absorbed in the civil 
population. The United States has been the 
leader and the teacher of all nations by this re- 
markable example. The late war was really but 
one act in the great drama of American history. 
It was but a chapter in the story of the conflict 
between aristocratic privilege and equal rights. 
Our fathers came to these shores to found a nation 
on the principles of equal liberty. They came 
when the inother-country was wrapped in the dark- 
ness of caste ; they came to lay the foundations of 
a nation which should enjoy the right of liberty 
and the pursuit of happiness ; but unfortunately, 
slaver}* existed. There was an " irrepressible con- 
flict " between the North and the South. It was 
a conflict between two civilizations. The fruits 
of liberty and of slavery both grew from seed 
sown in transatlantic soil. The civilization of 
the South was that of the Middle Ages. The 
planter with his slaves represented the baron and 
his retainers of mediaeval times. Slavery was an 
exotic in American soil, and in the nineteenth 
century. The spirit of the North belonged alike 
•to the newer age and the progressive country. It 
was impossible that these two civilizations could 



THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 315 

live long side by side on American soil. The 
conflict was sure to corne sooner or later. 

But never did braver men march under any 
country's flag than those who met the heroes of 
the South on the bloody fields of battle. Sher- 
man's march from " Atlanta to the sea " does not 
lose its honors when compared with the crossing 
of the Alps by Hannibal, and the campaigns of 
Grant will lose none of their lustre when placed 
side by side with those of old-world heroes 
through all centuries of history. Men inspired 
by the loftiest patriotism and the holiest faith are 
ever the bravest. We remember that Frederick 
the Great once overheard his favorite general 
engaged in prayer, and was about to utter a sneer- 
ing remark at the general's piety, but the brave old 
man, who had never feared a foe nor his majesty's 
jest, said : " I have just been asking aid from your 
majesty's great Ally." Men with such religious 
faith are irresistible on the battlefield. No foe 
could stand before Cromwell's " Ironsides," who 
rushed into conflict chanting psalms and offering 
prayers. Their watchword was, "The Lord of 
Hosts is with us " ; and in the pockets of the sol- 
diers were Bibles with marked texts for their in- 
struction and inspiration. General Havelock's 
bravest men were chosen from his prayer meeting 
for the most desperate attacks. On occasions de- 
manding special heroism, volunteers were always 
selected from " Havelock's Baptist Saints." 

Where do vou alwavs find the bravest men and 



316 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

the noblest women? In the Church of God, in 
the army of the Lord. Where the grandest ex- 
amples of heroism, self-sacrifice, and noble conse- 
cration, but in the church of God? Who but 
true believers have made the page of history illus- 
trious with deeds of immortal valor? For the 
love of God and souls brave men have become 
braver still, and tender women have been trans- 
formed into heroines in life and saints in death. 
They have gone into dungeons damp and loath- 
some, they have gone from country and friends to 
the jungles of India and the swamps of Africa, 
and they have been stretched on the rack and 
dragged to the stake. They dyed the Alpine 
snows with their blood ; they have trodden the 
glens of Scotland and climbed its rugged hills, 
and finally they went up from the Grass Market 
in Edinburgh in a chariot of fire to glory and to 
God. They have been the Havelocks and the 
Gordons in battle ; they have been the Polycarps, 
the Chrysostoms, the Luthers, and the Bun vans 
in peril and in death for their faith. To-day the 
loftiest manhood and the truest womanhood of the 
world are in the church of God. Let infidelity 
hide its diminished head. The glory of manhood 
is the outcome of Christian faith and love. Chris- 
tian faith consecrates patriotism, and makes brave 
soldiers for flag and country, braver, manlier, and 
nobler still. 

We must, with united hearts, keep step to the 
spirit of magnanimity with which General Grant 



THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 317 

signalized the close of the fearful conflict. Beau- 
tiful were the words spoken by Gen. Roger A. 
Pryor, himself an officer in the Confederate army, 
at the seventy-first birthday dinner held recently 
in honor of General Grant. General Pryor could 
pronounce no prouder eulogy on the immortal 
Grant than that he had overcome the apparently 
invincible Johnston and the brilliant Lee. But 
the grandest victory even of General Grant was 
his magnanimity toward General Lee at Appo- 
mattox, when Lee surrendered his sword, and the 
great civil war was ended. Grant destroyed the 
armies of Lee, Early, and Beauregard, but his 
clemency to the brave Lee made him victor over 
the hearts of the South, and over the hearts of all 
noble men throughout the world. General Pryor 
and other eloquent speakers affirmed that the 
time would come that General Grant would be 
considered as great a statesman as now he is 
regarded as a soldier. His influence in settling 
international disputes by arbitration ought to 
cover him with everlasting honor. He was a pio- 
neer in this new realm of statesmanship. There 
is a time coming when civilized nations will no 
more think of settling their disputes by the arbit- 
rament of the sword than Christian gentlemen 
would think now of resorting to blows to settle 
their petty differences. There is a time com- 
ing when the nations " Shall beat their swords 
into plowshares, and their spears into pruning- 
hooks ; " when " nation shall not lift up a sword 



318 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

against a nation, neither shall they learn war any 
more." 

We thank God that our conflict is over, that 
peace is secured, that liberty is universal and will 
be perpetual. Thank God that no bitterness now 
marks the spirit of any true Northern soldier. 
North and South are to-day one great nation. If 
the call came to fight against a common foe, the 
boys of the "gray" would march with the boys 
of the "blue" under our one glorious flag, for 
the honor of our common and beloved country. 
Thank God that we can say : 

For now the Northern lily 
Blooms with the Southern rose. 

Let their mingled beauty delight our eyes to- 
day ; let their blended fragrance be sweet perfume 
to the spirit of patriotism. We rejoice in one 
country from the lakes to the gulf, and from the 
mighty Atlantic to the mightier Pacific. 

We must learn to keep step to the spirit ofge?i- 
tiine Americci7i patriotism. No soldier is worthy 
of his name and fame unless he will stand in 
peace for the principles for which he braved death 
in battle. We must insist upon equal rights for 
all men of all creeds in all parts of our redeemed 
land. There are foes against which we must still 
fight. The saloon is the nursery of disloyalty, 
anarchy, murder, and every Satanic vice. The 
saloon ought to be consigned to the grave where 
slaver}' lies buried ; and neither ought ever to have 



THE SINGLE-HEARTED SOLDIERS 319 

a resurrection. Gambling houses are born of hell 
and they lead to the place of their birth. Pollu- 
tion of the ballot-box is a crime against civiliza- 
tion. 

Some of you will remember that in the museum 
in Berlin there is a fine fresco by Kaulbach. A 
few years ago I stood before it in wonder and ad- 
miration. It represents the last conflict between 
the Goths and Huns, a conflict that settled for 
centuries the form of civilization in Southern Eu- 
rope. The picture embodies the legend which 
taught that after the battle was over, the spirits 
of the slain still carried on in the air the terrible 
conflict begun on earth. The legend is literally 
true in our country's history at this hour. The 
forces of evil are arrayed against the forces of 
good ; superstition against intelligence ; and sel- 
fish politics against true patriotism. It must be 
yours to rise above the bitterness of the past, 
above the selfishness of the present, and to stand 
with a true heroism, a loyal patriotism, and a 
Christly manliness against evils of whatever kind 
and wherever found. Rightly did Milton sing : 

Peace hath her victories 
No less renowned than War. 

In this time of peace let us guard against political 
evils. L,et us resist every form of danger from 
whatever quarter it comes. L,et us strive more 
for the welfare of the republic than for the dom- 
inance of any political party. Once more let us 



320 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

say with Rufus Choate, " We join ourselves to no 
party that does not carry the flag and keep step 
to the music of the Union." Once more with 
the immortal Lincoln: " This nation, under God, 
shall have a new birth of freedom, and that gov- 
ernment of the people, by the people, and for the 
people, shall not perish from the earth." 

With tenderness, appreciation, and affection, I 
appeal to you, veterans, to serve your country and 
your God in peace as loyally as you did in war ; 
to you, sons and daughters of veterans, that you 
strive to be worthy of your honored sires ; to you, 
boys of the brigade, that you grow up to be strong 
men for God and your native land. Be of the 
number of those who, like the soldiers in David's 
army, could keep rank, those who had one heart 
for truth, purity, patriotism, and godliness. As I 
close, I rinsf out the words of the brave and 
matchless Apostle Paul, praying that the spirit of 
all truth may enable you to apply them in every 
relation of life : " Watch ye, stand fast in the 
faith, quit ye like men, be strong." And may 
God grant that when you are all mustered out 
from the ranks of earthly heroes and heroines you 
may be crowned with immortal glory in heaven as 
good soldiers and as triumphant victors through 
the strength of Christ, the Captain of our salva- 
tion ! 



XX 



DIVINE HEARTBURN 



"And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn 
within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he 
opened to us the Scriptures ? ' ' Luke 24 : 32. 



J 



XX 

WE find two disciples in deep sorrow leaving 
Jerusalem and going toward Bmmaus, a 
small town situated about seven or eight miles 
from Jerusalem. This journey was undertaken, 
it would seem, between midday and the early 
evening. It was the day of our Lord's glorious 
resurrection. The name of one of the disciples 
was Cleopas ; the name of the other we cannot 
discover. Probably we never shall know it ; but 
it is enough for us to know that it is graven on 
the palms of Jehovah's hands ; enough for us to 
know that perhaps we shall one day learn it when 
the Lord shall write up his people. Some have 
supposed that it was Simon ; others that it was 
Luke himself; but it is useless to speculate on a 
matter which the Holy Spirit has not revealed. 

As these men walked in their sadness, they 
talked with great earnestness ; and one seemed to 
be talking and arguing with more hope than the 
other. The original language which describes 
their conversation suggests the earnestness of their 
spirit, and the vigor of the argumentation in 
which they indulged. It is easy for us to im- 
agine what the subjects of their conversation 
would be ; easy to suppose that they were discuss- 
ing the great events connected with our Lord's 

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324 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

arrest, trial, condemnation, and crucifixion. We 
know too, that vague rumors concerning his 
resurrection were current in the city before they 
left ; indeed it is strange that they could leave 
the city until they had verified or falsified those 
reports. There certainly was much of which 
they might speak regarding the wondrous events 
which had happened in Jerusalem during the past 
few days, and thus sadly do they walk and talk. 
A stranger overtakes them and participates in 
their conversation ; we know, although they did 
not, that this stranger is none other than the 
august Person of whom they were speaking and 
reasoning. To them he seemed to be an ordinary 
traveler on that frequented highway. There is 
nothing peculiar at the outset in his dress, man- 
ner, or speech to suggest that he is the Son of God 
and the Redeemer of men. Their eyes, we are 
told, were holden that they should not know him. 
The disciples frequently failed to recognize our 
Lord during the forty days between his resurrec- 
tion and his ascension ; on that very morning 
Mary Magdalene failed to recognize her Lord and 
Master. Perhaps this result was partly due to the 
exercise of some strange power over the vision of 
the disciples ; and perhaps it was partly due to a 
change in the appearance of the Lord himself. It 
would seem as if his body were already assuming 
some of the characteristics of its subsequent glori- 
fication. It is certain that some alteration had 
taken place in his appearance, an alteration which 



DIVINE HEARTBURN 325 

was sufficient to throw doubt over his identity, 
until his disciples gave him their more careful con- 
sideration. It is evident that the two disciples 
journeying toward Bmmaus did not know at once 
who was their companion, and thus for a time the 
blessed Lord walked with them unrecognized. 

The case of these disciples in this respect was 
not unlike our own. How often the divine Lord 
walks with us in our daily life, in our severe trials, 
and in our blessed experiences, when for a time 
we do not recognize his presence ! How often he 
passes by us and we perceive him not ! How 
often have we wished that we might find him, 
when in reality he was by our side ! Too often, 
like Mary in the garden, we look at him through 
a veil of tears, and fail to recognize his presence ; 
too often, like the disciples in the fourth watch of 
the night, we fail to know him when he comes to 
us walking over the foaming billows ! 

But, though unrecognized by them, Christ's 
heart is drawn out in tender sympathy and in 
great love toward these sad travelers toward Em- 
maus. His words recall them to themselves and 
enable them to think clearly of what has passed 
in Jerusalem. Let us look for a little time at 
these three travelers. 

The two men, so far as we know, had performed 
no remarkable services for Jesus ; perhaps one of 
them may have occupied a position of relation- 
ship ; but the Lord did not draw near to them on 
that account. If relationship were to be the 

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326 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

cause of his appearance, he would have mani- 
fested himself especially to his mother during his 
resurrection life ; but her name does not once ap- 
pear in the entire record of this period. After he 
committed her to the care of John while he him- 
self hung on the cross, he seemed to drop the 
claims of earthly relationship. Had these travel- 
ers been Peter or John, Christ's approach to them 
would not have been surprising ; but the travelers 
were not apostles, and they were not of promi- 
nence among the seventy disciples. But our 
Lord's first words to them may explain the reason 
of his approach. He certainly did not need to 
ask them for information, for he knew what was 
in man ; but he questioned them that he might 
gain ready access to their sorrowful hearts. In 
their surprise they seemed scarcely to know how 
to answer him ; they think he must be a stranger 
in Jerusalem, not to know the wonderful things 
that have come to pass there in the last few days. 
Wondering travelers ! This stranger is the Lord 
of life and glory ! That morning he left Joseph's 
tomb in triumph, leading death and hell in cap- 
tivity. On that journey he opens to the travelers 
the Scriptures and soon their hearts burn within 
them. 

He remains to the evening meal ; in the break- 
ing of bread in the humble home he is recognized, 
and back to the city hasten the joyous disciples. 
Never was a journey so short ; and even before 
they start they ask in the words of the text : " Did 



DIVINE HEARTBURN ^l 

not our hearts burn within us while he talked with 
us by the way, and while he opened to us the 
Scriptures?" My theme this evening is, "Burn- 
ing Hearts in Christian Work." Burning hearts 
are necessary to the highest success in Christian 
service ; burning hearts can be secured ; burning 
hearts will be sure to manifest themselves in 
speech and action. 

In the first place, glowing hearts, hearts aglow 
with love to Christ and love for the souls of men, 
are one of the great needs of the hour. Why 
have Christians so little power in Christian ser- 
vice ? Why move the wheels of God's chariot so 
slowly ? Why are there not thousands converted 
in a day? Why should one sermon on the day of 
Pentecost convert three thousand souls, while in 
our day it takes almost three thousand sermons to 
convert one soul? Certainly one answer to this 
question is that the hearts of so many professors 
of religion are cold in Christian service ; and as a 
result the power of the church is largely latent. 
It has been well said that a powerless Christian 
ought to be as great a misnomer as a forceless 
thunderbolt. Christians need burning hearts to 
give them earnest desires to work for Jesus. 
There are thousands in good and regular standing 
in our churches, who have no sense of personal 
responsibility for the conversion of their friends 
and neighbors. There are thousands who have 
never put forth personal efforts to secure the con- 
version of even one soul. It has not entered into 



328 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

their minds that membership in a church implies 
the existence of such desires, and the making of 
such efforts ; and still they stand well in the 
church, and could at any time receive a letter 
to another church certifying to the integrity 
of their character, and the regularity of their 
standing. 

It is worth much to be impelled by the sense of 
duty to seek the salvation of those with whom we 
are in contact ; but it is better to draw sweetly by 
the cords of divine-human love. Those who have 
a desire to work for Jesus will always find a field 
of labor ; opportunities abound did we but desire 
to do our duty. We ought to have a passion for 
souls ; no man can enjoy the love of God fully, 
unless he shares it generously. There is nothing 
selfish in true religion ; the more a man gives 
away the more he has, and the less he gives away 
the less he keeps for himself. This is the spirit 
which ought to dwell in the hearts of all Christian 
believers ; if they had a full realization of the 
wondrous love of God, of the value of a human 
soul, and of the danger to which it is exposed, 
they would rather be the means of its salvation 
than possess the greatest of earth's treasures for 
themselves. 

The love of Christ in the heart burns up the 
dross of selfishness, melts the coldness of worldli- 
ness, and quickens the deadness of indifference 
in every true believer ; this love will manifest 
itself in their words, acts, tones, and looks. The 



DIVINE HEARTBURN 329 

prayer of the Christian ought to be, "0 God, 
give us hearts on fire with divine love." 

We need burning hearts to give us power in 
working for Christ. It is not merely what a man 
speaks or does, but the spirit in which he speaks 
and acts, that gives him power with men. It is 
the man behind the words which gives them irre- 
sistible force, which throws them out with projec- 
tile power. It was said that every word of some 
of Webster's great speeches weighed pounds. We 
know that it was not simply the needle guns of 
the Germans, but the intelligence of the soldiers 
behind the guns which wrought such havoc 
among the French in the Franco- Prussian war; 
it was the schools of Germany which annihilated 
the soldiers of France. Richard Sheridan was 
accustomed to say, " I often go to hear Rowland 
Hill because his ideas come red-hot from the 
heart," Dr. John M. Mason, when asked for an 
explanation of the remarkable power of Dr. Chal- 
mers, replied, after taking time for careful con- 
sideration, " His blood earnestness. " If our words 
are to move men like an electric battery, we must 
be saturated with the love of the Lord Jesus. If 
that love is in our hearts, it will make our words 
mighty over the hearts of others ; if we are con- 
strained by Christ's love, men will take knowl- 
edge of us that we have been with the Lord, and 
they will yield to the power of his truth embodied 
in our lives and preached by our glowing words. 
This life will give unspeakable joy in our work, 



330 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

and that joy of the Lord will be our strength in 
manifesting a true Christian character, and in de- 
claring by our words and acts the glorious gospel 
of the blessed God. 

How may burning hearts be secured ? It is cer- 
tain that one element of preparation for securing 
them is sadness because of their absence. Why 
did Christ go to these disciples ? We have already 
seen that his visit was not due to any great ser- 
vice which they had performed, neither was it be- 
cause of near relationship. Still our Lord gave 
them more time than he ever gave, so far as 
the record goes, to any disciples during his resur- 
rection life. Doubtless their sadness had its in- 
fluence in drawing " the Man of sorrows " to their 
side. During this first resurrection day he had al- 
ready appeared to Alary as she wept at the tomb, 
in her lonely grief; he had already appeared to 
Peter, who poured forth, as we may well believe, 
his tears of penitence; and now he joins himself 
to these two disappointed and almost broken- 
, hearted disciples. The grief of Mary was that of 
a grateful and loving heart robbed of the object 
of its devotion ; the grief of Peter was that of a 
heart smitten with a sense of ingratitude, cow- 
ardice, and open betrayal. But the grief of the 
two disciples was that of men disappointed in 
their hopes, and sunk in despondency because of 
their disappointment. Grief ever touches the heart 
of the Son of God. Longing for him draws him 
to our side ; grieving because of his absence helps 



DIVINE HEARTBURN 331 

greatly to secure his presence. Do we long to-day 
for his companionship as we walk life's dusty high- 
way ? That very longing he understands and will 
speedily meet by his blessed presence. There are 
subtle laws, but little understood as yet, according 
to which thinking of and longing for the absent, 
moves them by processes which we cannot under- 
stand ; there is here a great realm of mystery 
acted upon by laws which sometime we shall un- 
derstand. Facts abundantly warrant us in affirm- 
ing that earnest thought of one absent, tends to 
influence the thoughts and desires of the one thus 
considered. Now if these things are true among 
men, how much more possible and true are they in 
our relation to him who knows the thoughts and 
desires of every soul ! Are you grieving because of 
the absence of your Lord ? That grieving he under- 
stands; to it he will promptly respond, and he will 
crown your life with his own gracious presence. 
Are you disappointed ? Are your hopes blasted ? 
Is your sadness deep to-day ? Then know that to 
you, as to the disciples on the stormy Galilean 
sea, Jesus will come walking over the crested bil- 
lows of your grief; to you, as to the two disciples 
on the way to Emmaus, Jesus will come making 
his presence known, and causing your hearts to 
burn with holy joy and to glow with heavenly 
love. 

We see also that studying the Bible to find 
Jesus brings Jesus near. This narrative greatly 
helps us at this point ; doubtless these disciples 



332 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

wete studying carefully the events which had oc- 
curred during the past few days ; doubtless they 
were trying to find some relation between these 
events and the facts of revelation. There was 
very much about which they might well reason 
and dispute ; the questions would justify, and the 
narrative implies, vigorous disputation. How 
could their Master yield to the power of his ene- 
mies, and be shamefully crucified? How could 
they reconcile his repeated claims to divinity and 
his manifestations of almighty power with his 
submission to his enemies. Various sayings of 
his now return to perplex their minds, and to sug- 
gest mysterious and confused notions concerning 
his character and mission. They had also heard 
just before leaving Jerusalem that certain women 
had found the sepulchre empty and had seen 
angels, who had declared that he was not dead bat 
alive. Could he really be alive ? I have often 
wondered that they could leave the city without 
fuller information, while such rumors were in the 
air ; but it is certain that they did not really be- 
lieve in his resurrection. All his prophecies on 
that point had perplexed their minds. Xow, how- 
ever, he draws near as their great Enlightener ; he 
unfolds to them the Scriptures concerning himself. 
Wonderful moment ! Marvelous Teacher ! Never 
before had they seen the Old Testament prophe- 
cies in the light of this hour. Jesus showed them 
how he himself was the subject of these prophe- 
cies. There are men now who tell us that the 



DIVINE HEARTBURN 333 

Old Testament is obsolete. Not so did Christ 
teach. He began at Moses and all the prophets 
and expounded to the disciples the Scriptures 
concerning himself. He rebuked them because 
of their slowness of heart, because of their ignor- 
ance of the true meaning of their own Scriptures. 
They needed his rebuke, and they found that he 
wounded them but to give them divine healing 
and assured comfort. He who searches the Scrip- 
tures and does not find Christ in them does not 
search and teach as did the Christ himself. We 
cannot suppose that they had a copy of the Old 
Testament Scriptures with them ; but they knew 
the leading passages by heart. Perhaps Christ 
showed them the meaning of such a prophecy as 
that of Moses raising up a prophet like unto him- 
self ; such a prophecy as that of Isaiah when he saw 
the glory of the suffering and triumphant Messiah; 
and such as that of Daniel speaking of the Mes- 
siah who should be cut off for the sins of the 
people. These, and similar prophecies, he may 
have unfolded to their dull minds. There is a 
long line of such prophecy ; there is a golden 
thread of Messianic truth running through the 
warp and woof of the Old Testament ; there is a 
crimson cord let down from every window of this 
ancient and inspired prophecy. Everywhere we 
see the paschal lamb, the smitten rock, the ser- 
pent of brass, and the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat. 
Oh, critics, are not ye fools and slow of heart not 
to believe the glorious things which the prophets 



334 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

have spoken ? Ought ye not to see that Christ 
must have suffered on the cross that he might enter 
into the glory ? Do ye not know that the cross is 

The great world's altar stairs, 

That slope through darkness up to God ? 

It is true also that beseeching Christ to tarry 
secures his abiding in our hearts and homes. Soon 
the travelers reach the village to which they were 
going ; and the illustrious stranger makes as if he 
would go farther. Is he guilty of attempted im- 
position? Who will dare so affirm? He is en- 
tirely sincere ; he certainly will go farther if they 
do not beseech him to remain. Jesus is ever pass- 
ing by and he will not stay, but constantly go be- 
yond us, if we do not detain him ; he stands at 
the door of our heart and knocks, and unless we 
open he will pass on. It is toward evening and 
he turns in to make himself the guest in this 
lowly home. Oh, blessed visif.^r ! Oh, holy guest ! 
Iyet our prayer now be, " Come in, come in, thou 
blessed Son of God ! " Let that prayer often as- 
cend in holy song : 

Abide with me ! Fast falls the eventide, 
The darkness deepens, Lord with me abide. 
When other helpers fail, and comforts flee, 
Help of the helpless, oh, abide with me! 

He did come in to abide ! The evening meal 
is spread ; he lifts his hands in blessing, and now 
the disciples are filled with holy joy because of 
their rapturous recognition. Something in his 



DIVINE HEARTBURN 335 



manner of blessing and breaking the bread caused 
their eyes to open and they knew him. It has 
been suggested that when he raised his hands in 
blessing, they saw in his palms the print of the 
nails ; bub perhaps it was only his manner of 
breaking and giving the bread which recalled to 
their minds some former peculiarity of manner and 1 
tone which assured them that it was indeed the 
Ivord. Do we have a welcome in our homes, a 
place at our tables, and a throne in our hearts for 
thee, blessed Christ? 

How are burning hearts manifested ? The nar- 
rative helps us at this point also. These disciples 
went back to the city ; they had not expected so 
to do ; but they cannot remain in Emmaus with 
this glorious knowledge in their hearts. Never 
was a journey so short and so joyous. They left 
Jerusalem not to return ; they now hasten back ; 
with flying feet they run to tell their thrilling 
story. Religion mikes the Christian's duties easy 
and joyous ; when the love of God is in the heart 
the yoke of duty is easy and the burden of ser- 
vice is light. When they reached Jerusalem they 
became preachers ; they hastened to the upper 
room where the other disciples were gathered. 
All had heard the reports of the women, of Mary 
Magdalene, and of Peter ; and these disciples now 
add their testimony to that of the other witnesses 
to the resurrection. They could say with Jere- 
miah, " His word was in mine heart as a burning 
fire, shut up in my bones, and I was weary with 



336 QUICK TRUTHS IN QUAINT TEXTS 

forbearing, and I could not stay." They could 
say with the psalmist, " My heart was hot within 
me ; while I was musing the fire burned ; then 
spake I with my tongue." Once more they were 
rewarded by a sight of the risen Lord ; soon he is 
in the midst of them, and soon his " Peace be unto 
you," falls upon their wondering and joyous hearts. 

If the love of God be in our hearts, we cannot 
but speak what we have seen and felt ; we will 
arise like those disciples the same hour, even 
though it be night, and will hasten to tell our 
glad story ; and we shall experience something of 
their blissful enthusiasm ; and we, like them, shall 
be rewarded with another sight of the Lord. 

Do you wish for burning hearts in Christ's ser- 
vice ? Then bring your cold hearts now to Jesus. 
The way to drive out cold is to let in heat ; the 
way to banish darkness is to admit light. Oh ! 
men and women, long for the presence of the 
Lord ; study his word to find him ; pray him to 
come in and to tarry with you. Then the mys- 
terious stranger will meet you by the way and 
cause your hearts to burn within you ; and then 
when you have hastened to tell another of the 
joy that you have found, once more the Christ will 
meet you, and his sweet benediction, as heaven's 
choicest blessing, will fall upon your souls. 



Wm ♦ 




